BSNL’s VRS draws huge response

The voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) notified by BSNL has drawn huge response from employees and in less than two days, over 22,000 people have applied for it. Both executives and non-executives have shown interest in the scheme, which is valid till December 3.

According to an official in BSNL, the company had set a target of around 77,000 employees for the scheme, but given the response, it looks like most of the 1 lakh staff, who are eligible, will opt for the scheme. After the retirement of excess staff, BSNL is likely to save over Rs 7,500 crore per year in salary costs. The current salary outgo is over Rs 14,000 crore for the company. The government had last month cleared a package worth around Rs 70,000 crore, which include Rs 29,937 crore for VRS.
BSNL has about 46,000 executives which include ranks of junior telecom officer (JTO) and higher. Non-executives staff count like junior engineer, accountant, technicians, etc, stood at about 1.18 lakh.
According to the VRS scheme, all regular and permanent BSNL employees aged 50 years or more, including those on deputation to other organisation or posted outside BSNL on deputation basis, are eligible to avail VRS. Currently, over 77% of BSNL revenues go into paying salaries but after the scheme, it will come down to 20-25%.
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