Uninor staffers seek meetings with PM, telecom minister

T request that their employer be allowed to continue operations, 600 Uninor employees and their families may gather at Jantar Mantar

Employees of telecom firm Uninor, which faces closure after Supreme Court cancelled all its licences, are seeking meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to request that their employer be allowed to continue operations.

More than 600 Uninor employees and their families from Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh are likely to gather at Jantar Mantar here tomorrow before they petition the authorities for Uninor being allowed to continue operations till next round of spectrum auction, which is likely sometime in 2012-13.

"The purpose of this gathering will be to register our presence, bring to the government of India's attention the fact that Uninor's future is our future and that we deserve a chance to continue.

 

"We will be asking the government to ensure that we are allowed to keep the operations running till such time that our company is able to participate in the new 2G auctions," Uninor employees said in a letter.

The Supreme Court, on February 2, had cancelled 122 telecom licences, including 22 of Uninor, a joint venture between Telenor of Norway and domestic realty player Unitech.

Following the dismissal of its review petition by the apex court, Uninor has moved a curative petition.

Employees of Uninor would meet Prime Minister and Sibal if they are granted an audience.

"This prayer [to be submitted to Singh and Sibal] has been signed by Uninor employees from across India and many more will sign up at the venue tomorrow," the letter said.

While the apex court had asked the government to conduct the auction for 2G spectrum freed from cancellation of 122 licenses within four months, Department of Telecom has expressed its inability to complete the process within that timeline. Instead, it has sought 400 days to complete the process.

Norwegian firm Telenor, which is the majority shareholder in the joint venture, has said it remains committed to India and will participate in the proposed auction.

However, it is looking for a new partner for the Indian joint venture.