It seems like BSNL employees are satisfied with the Voluntary Retirement package offered by the Cabinet as part of the revival package. A new report now says that nearly 57,000 employees already availed the VRS which was rolled out by the company on November 5. As we already know, nearly one lakh BSNL employees are eligible for the VRS scheme, out of which, 57,000 already availed the service. The deadline for opting VRS would be December 3, as confirmed by BSNL Chairman, Pravin Kumar Purwar, recently. Combined with those of MTNL, over 60,000 employees have already opted the submitted Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).
BSNL VRS Option Will End on December 3
BSNL has a total of 1.5 lakh employees, of which one lakh employees are eligible for VRS. According to a PTI report, the company has set an internal target of 77,000 employees who should opt for VRS. Already, 57,000 employees have chosen the VRS, and before the deadline, we may see the number going up gradually. "The effective date of voluntary retirement under the present scheme is January 31, 2020," said the PTI report.
For the uninitiated, BSNL employees aged over 50 years are eligible for VRS. The Cabinet already confirmed that all the permanent and regular employees of the telco including the employees on deputation or posted outside BSNL on deputation are eligible for the VRS.
BSNL Chairman also said that the company's workforce would be halved and he urges the work culture will have to change. "We have to work meticulously because we have now started taking the data, which SSA, which unit, how many people are taking VRS....We will still be left with about 80,000 people. So, the numbers are not less...but it will be almost half. The work culture will also have to change," Purwar told PTI.
That said, BSNL employees seems to have satisfied with the VRS package being offered to them. According to new Telecom secretary Anshu Prakash, the VRS package given to BSNL and MTNL employees is attractively designed, which is the reason behind the unprecedented response.
BSNL Looking to Save About Rs 7,000 Crore in Wage Bill
With the help of VRS, BSNL employee count will come down drastically. As noted, the company is looking for around 77,000 employees to opt for the VRS package before December 3. The same report added that BSNL is looking at saving around Rs 7,000 crore in the wage bill, if the employee count comes down by the internally targeted number.
For the unaware, the Cabinet approved a massive revival package for BSNL and MTNL last month. Both MTNL and BSNL will be merged as part of the package and the former will act as a subsidiary to the latter.
The revival package is about Rs 69,000 crore and the majority of it will be used for the VRS itself. BSNL employees aged over 53.5 will get their 125% of salary for the entire balance period of their service. For the employees aged between 50-53.5, the government will provide 80%-100% of their salary for the rest of their service period. And for the employees aged over 55 years, the government will provide the pension once they reach 60 years which is the present retirement age.
