It was an employees’ protest with a difference at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.
For starters, it was a protest that had the tacit support of the management. Those demonstrating on the streets were given time off to do so — and even equipped with T-shirts with the corporate logo!
Over 2,000 employees of Uninor, a joint venture between Norway’s Telenor and India-based Unitech, and their families took to the streets on Wednesday, protesting the imminent loss of their jobs.
Wearing Uninor T-shirts and holding placards, the employees, most of them young, were protesting the ‘collateral damage’ inflicted on them by the 2G scam.
Their anger was directed against the Government, and not the employer who was terminating their services.
In its February 2 order, the Supreme Court set a date of June 2 for quashing the 122 licences issued during the regime of former Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, and had asked the Government to conduct an auction.
“With due respect to the honourable court, all we are asking for is a chance to continue to work beyond June 2, till such time the auction takes place,” said Mr Joslin, who works in the sales & distribution division of the company. He said all the employees had taken a day off and the company was backing them in this effort. Even some vendors had landed up in support.
There was an air of bonhomie with employees holding placards reading ‘Just because we are invisible in Delhi, does not mean we do not exist,’ and ‘Please allow operations beyond June 2’.
The employees said they planned to submit a ‘prayer’ to the Prime Minister and the Telecom Minister, seeking continuity in their jobs for the 14,000 staff across the country. The company said it has 2,000 distributors, 3,000 vendors, over 1,000 exclusive stores, 58 offices and 40 million subscribers, who would be directly affected.