State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) decision to float voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) will render more than lakh employees jobless. The telecom company on 29 September accepted the VRS scheme, which was proposed by a committee headed by Sam Pitroda in 2008.
The company has sent the proposal to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for approval, said sources in the department.
The Pitroda committee report had stated that trimming the employee strength of BSNL would improve its productivity and help in cutting down expenditure.
{Unhappy with the board decision, BSNL employees have started to mount pressure on the management to recall the decision.
BSNL has 2,76,306 employees and the scheme will help the company save Rs 35,266 cr annually, said officials.
The VRS scheme will not affect the officers of Indian Telecom Service belonging to group A, M.K Chouhan, additional secretary, ITS Association told this newspaper.
Despite repeated attempts, there was no response from the top management of BSNL to our queries for confirming whether the said proposal was sent to the DoT.
Meanwhile, unhappy with the board decision, employees have started to mount pressure on the management to recall the decision.
V.A.N Namboodiri, convenor of the joint forum of executives and non-executives’ unions and associations, said that they are planning to call for a nation-wide strike on 15 November. “The top management of BSNL is on deputation from India Telecom Service and hence they do not have much stake in the future of BSNL and are not concerned about the employees working under them,” Namboodiri said.
He said that cutting jobs would not help the organisation. “Look at what happened to MTNL. The company had floated VRS schemes thrice for its employees. As a result, it started making losses. Retrenching employees is not the answer to the revival of BSNL, rather it’s just an ill-conceived design to benefit private players and shut down BSNL,” he said. Employee unions feel that comparing their strength with private telecom operators was not justified as they also installed landlines all over the country, something most private players did not.
Employee unions are also not impressed by the argument that PSU is spending about 46% of its income to pay salaries, compared to 6-10% in private telecom companies. “Earlier BSNL had about 4 lakh workers and the company had a revenue of Rs 40,000 cr and profit of Rs 6,000 cr to Rs 10,000 cr. There were more workers earlier and more revenue. By reducing the numbers of workers the revenue will also decrease,” said Namboodiri
They questioned committee’s recommendation to outsource work. “What kind of rationale is the government working on? On the one hand it decides to leave out 1 lakh employees who are already working in the organisation and on the other it talks about engaging people from outside,” asked Ratish Kumar, secretary of the Bihar chapter of Sanchar Nigam Executive Association.
BSNL sources admitted that the blame for the company’s sinking profits did not squarely lie with the employees.
As per an Ministry of Home Affairs directive, BSNL has been discouraged from purchasing telecom equipments from China, whereas the same equipments are being used by the private telecom companies.
The company has also not undertaken any major investment for maintenance of landlines and broadband in the recent past, which has led to a shrinking customer base.
VAN Namboodiri's Blog 
If BSNL implements VRS as a golden shake hand scheme, this will financially very help to its aged employees. More over , this will promote a huge job vacancy for well educated youths..(that may be your children also..) .
After VRS implementation, BSNL will change to a profit maker, then VRS opties can proud of making BSNL profitable..( today any reason for prouding-: except only losses and strikes.)
You are saying that the old people will get benefit. Of course they will get. But the amount they are getting is mostly retirement benefits, which they will get whether they go on VRS or on usual retiement. But if they go on superannuatuin, according to the number of years now they have, they may get one or two promotions, one wage revision. and also other benefits and the pension will be much higher than what they will now get if going on VRS. Remember the pension will continue for many years and if one goes on VRS there will be big loss. There will be no recruitment at all for the vacancies of retired officials who have taken VRS.
By more people going on VRS company will certainly suffer. Through VRS no company has benefitted. See the case of MTNL.
Where is the money for VRS? There is no money with BSNL. If loan is taken to pay VRS, how it will be paid back?
It is because of all these reasons the JAC is opposing VRS. It is neither beneficial for the company nor the workers. It is a ploy by the government to prepare for the privatistion of the company by reducing the workers. Hence the proposed strike.
If BSNL implements VRS as a golden shake hand scheme, this will financially very help to its aged employees. More over , this will promote a huge job vacancy for well educated youths..(that may be your children also..) .
After VRS implementation, BSNL can change to a profit maker, then VRS opties can proud of making BSNL profitable..( today any reason for prouding-: except only losses and strikes.)
Please read the reply given to Ms Gayatri MV for another question.
According to your point of view, that maybe correct.
But, BSNL is only acting as instructed by DOT for VRS implementing and previously, MTNL followed instructions of DOT and financially supported by DOT..
Like that, DOT will surely shoulder BSNL also..
Then, for what purpose this strike? That one-day strike have to suffer by common people only..
If the Union have any agitation, that do only against government ( like parliament march, Placards etc. ) and not make common people as a victim . . Please give a reply..
(I and gayatri.m.v are friends..)
It is only through united strikes and struggles that the working class has improved its condition. There is a thinking that one should completely obey the government and management and they will give all you want. If there were no struggle the workers would have never got 8 hours work. They would have been working for 16 or 18 hours. Even the BSNL has been saved by the strike in 2007 through which it got at least half of the tender for the mobile equipments. . If there was no strike on the wage revision you would not have got the present salary and other benefits. It was through sustained struggles that you have started getting regular DAs. You will have to go through the continuous struggles and the results for analysing the effect of the strikes.
Further struggles are decided democratically. It is a collective decision and not the opinion of one or two. Of course there can be difference of opinion when there are lakhs of workers. But the decisions are taken after consulting at the various forms of the organisation/s.
When there is a strike there is difficulty for the people. But when the people understand the issue they also support the struggles. That is how we get the support of the people. For that the workers ahould have contact with the people.That is the work to be done at the field level.
You people only focus on salary aspects..not on the work aptitude and attitude of its employees in present scenarios..The main drawbacks of BSNL is that new recruitments are not happens..and majority of its employees really focus on unions not in work for your BSNL..
“A change is a universal necessity..”
Dear Shri Gopal,
It is only through the sincere work and dedication of the lakhs of work force that the telecom and later BSNL has developed. You may not be aware that the P and T Department was treated as one of the most efficient services in the whole of India. I agree during the last few years, there has been some casual attitude on the part of some workers. It is to improve the work culture that the Union has started the campaign of ‘Customer Delight Year 2011-12’. And the results have started coming. We have to continue this campaign and work.
In old decades, the BSNL was monopoly joint with P&T like todays electricity board.. That’s not realistic in today’s BSNL..
You said about a customer delight year..is it now going on ? If yes, then are you agrees that the agitations and strikes against people really promote that “Delight” ?
Why are you not choosing another type of agitations against BSNL management ?