We have been flooding our stocks fervently with stories of intensified unrest going on in the public sector telecom company, Bharat Sanchar Nagar Limited (BSNL).
There have been constant reports coming in about BSNL not paying its employees on time and missing deadlines. In an attempt to save about ?7,000 crore annually, the telecom company has rolled out its Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2019 on November 4. As of now, as many as 70,000 employees have already signed up for VRS, against the target of 94,000 employees.
70,000 BSNL Employees Opt for VRS
The ignited condition of BSNL is getting worse with each day passing by. A company that has stood tall and oldest in the telecom sector of India, is now wavering in its base. It is letting go off employees who have served it for more than 20 years.
Elements like not paying employees on time, not getting enough funds from government on projects extremely vital for proper functioning of the company and many more has led to BSNL striding on a path of heavy loss, since the last 10 years.
About 75% of BSNL’s revenue is being spent on wages for its workforce, constituting of 1.75 lakh employees. Thus,the company has rolled out its VRS scheme, aiming to save Rs 7,000 crore in annual wage bill if 70,000-80,000 employees apply for VRS. Up till now, more than 60,000 employees have applied for it.
The scheme was introduced after the government approved its merger with MTNL. BSNL employees can apply for VRS under this scheme till December 3.
How Will This Benefit the Govt and Employees?
The rescue package approved by the government includes infusion of ?20,140 crore for purchase of 4G spectrum, ?3,674 crore for GST to be paid on spectrum allocation, companies raising ?15,000 crore in debt on the sovereign guarantee, government funding of ?17,160 crore for VRS and another ?12,768 crore towards retirement liability.
According to VRS scheme rolled out BSNL, all regular and permanent employees of BSNL, including those on deputation to other organisations or posted outside the corporation on deputation basis, who have attained the age of 50 years or above are eligible to seek for this VRS scheme.
- Employees of age more than 53.5 years will get 125% of their salary.
- Employees in the age bracket of 50 to 53.5 years will get 80-100% of the remuneration to be paid in the balance period of their service.
- However, for employees over 55 years of age opting for VRS, the pension will be computed only after they attain 60 years of age.
Employees Aren’t Happy
Some employees in the company working since 1980s believe that the root cause of BSNL’s financial woes is the company itself. Factors like not giving 4G licences or providing Fibernet material seriously, led to the flock out of customers from BSNL to other service providers.
As per other employees, this decision to offer VRS packages to employees above 50 years of age is due to government’s inability to maintain the services and pay employees’ salaries on time.
Employees believe that one lakh employees quitting will not improve the conditions for BSNL, as most of these exiting employees are from technical domain and their age has made them highly skilled and experienced.