Centre rethinks BSNL proposal to slash workforce by a third after employee union writes to minister

The government is reconsidering a proposal that would have seen the workforce at public sector telecom company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), slashed through a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), SRK Nation has learnt. This rethink comes after protests by the employees’ union, and a letter they wrote to Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia.

In order to improve the health of the telecom company’s balance sheet, the board of BSNL had sent a proposal to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), where it had sought Rs 15,000 crore to meet the expenses related to the VRS. The scheme, according to reports, aimed to reduce the employee strength at the company by 18,000-19,000 people, which would have been a 31-33 percent reduction.

The employees’ union said that the move is a “huge surprise” to them, and alleged that it is due to mismanagement that the benefits of the series of revival packages are not being reaped by BSNL.

In a letter to Scindia, reviewed by SRK Nation, Ravindra Himte, General Secretary at Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) sought the minister’s intervention for clearing of “long pending HR issues of pay, pension and promotions and to ensure a proper career hierarchy to the executives of BSNL instead of making BSNL employees subject to another move of VRS which is completely uncalled for as on date, especially in view of the government’s claim that BSNL is back on to the path of revival and profitability”.

Following this, the DoT decided to reconsider the VRS decision.

“The Department is taking a re-look at the VRS proposal,” a person aware of the matter told SRK Nation. “While there are indications that it may have been put on hold for now, there is no official communication in this regard.”

Pointing out that the government, in the just-concluded session of Parliament, had stated that BSNL is on the path of recovery and is soon going to be in a state of absolute profitability from the current state of operating profit, the BMS in the letter said this sudden talk of one more VRS for BSNL employees and that too without consulting any of the associations and unions was the last thing expected at this juncture.

“It seems that BSNL management considers VRS as the only solution to bring BSNL to profitability and put the onus completely on employees,” the letter said. “The sister organisation of BSNL, i.e. MTNL, floated VRS many times but the company is still struggling to survive. The revival of any company is directly linked with the policy making along with the happiness index of its employees and not on VRS schemes,” the letter added.

As of March 2024, the company had an employee strength of 57,657 employees, of which 29,570 were executive employees and 28,087 non-executive employees. As per the company’s annual report for 2023-24, BSNL’s expense on employee salaries stood at about Rs 6,552 crore for the year, while the company’s revenues from operations stood at Rs 19,331 crore.

SRK Nation reached DoT and BSNL via email. This report will be updated if and when responses are received.

Intervention requested

As part of the first revival package for the struggling telecom PSUs—BSNL and MTNL—the Union Cabinet had in October 2019 approved VRS for employees. A total of 78,570 company employees applied for the scheme and VRS of 78,325 employees was accepted by BSNL.

Since 2019, the Centre has approved three revival packages for BSNL, cumulatively worth over Rs 3 lakh crore. “If the benefits of the series of revival packages are not being reaped on by BSNL management, the failure is only on the part of management and the officers dealing with the policies pertaining to BSNL,” the BMS said.

It added that, “The failure to implement a smooth and hassle free indigenous 4G mobile network and the failure to give a seamless network experience to BSNL customers should not be covered in the guise of floating another VRS scheme and instead responsibility should be fixed for BSNL management, DoT and the Vendors for their failure to provide a seamless experience to BSNL customers from the Swadeshi Mobile Network and not fixing up the problems arising out in the core and the network components.”

The government’s push for ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’, which restricts BSNL from using 4G/5G equipment from global vendors, while focusing on deployment of new indigenous technology has delayed BSNL’s 4G and 5G launch, a key reason for the company’s poor performance.

The BMS, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July last year, had sought some relaxation to these rules, allowing BSNL to launch 4G/5G services by upgrading the current infrastructure till the time ‘Swadeshi Technology’ is developed.

In the letter to Scindia, the BMS warned that there is a lot of discontent in the organisation and soon it may result in huge unrest, while suggesting “entering into discussions with the concerned stakeholders of BSNL”.

“We humbly request your highest office to step in and ensure that justice is delivered to the BSNL Employees,” the letter said, adding that the minister’s intervention will help boost employees’ morale and motivate them, while also aligning them with the “government vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat in Telecom”.