- Following BSNL on Wednesday, state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) said its VRS plan has exceeded its internal projections as more than 13,500 workers have so far opted for the newly announced scheme.
- Originally, MTNL had expected 13,500 employees to opt for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), but the numbers had already crossed 13,532 employees, with almost two weeks to go before the closing date for the option.
Following BSNL on Wednesday, state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) said its VRS plan has exceeded its internal projections as more than 13,500 workers have so far opted for the newly announced scheme.
Originally, MTNL had expected 13,500 employees to opt for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), but the numbers had already crossed 13,532 employees, with almost two weeks to go before the closing date for the option.
“We have received a strong response, and as many as 13,532 workers have selected the VRS system so far. Our internal target was 13,500, “said Sunil Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of MTNL to PTI. He agreed that as many workers as possible will be accommodated by the company. “We expect the numbers to hit the range of 14,500 to 15,000 by the closing date,” he said adding that the program is open for 16,300 workers in all.
In the case of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), up to now as many as 77,000 employees of state-owned telecommunications companies have opted for the recently launched VRS.
The MTNL system will be open to employees until December 3, 2019, based on the VRS Gujarat model. He said “all normal and permanent 50-year-old workers as of January 31, 2020” are eligible for the program.
The government has approved a BSNL and MTNL plum-based 69,000-crore turnaround package that includes combining the two loss-making companies, monetizing their properties, and giving employees VRS to make the merged company profitable in two years.
The Cabinet approved a plan to combine MTNL –providing services in Mumbai and New Delhi–with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) serving the rest of the country.
MTNL has reported losses in the last nine years, and since 2010, BSNL has reported losses. The total debt on both companies amounted to approximately 40,000 crores, half of which is on MTNL alone.
“Out of the target of 83,000 people, we have made, 50,000 employees have opted for VRS till today and 3,000 employees of MTNL, out of the target of 15,000 people. This shows that the scheme was well thought out,” Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications told reporters here on the sidelines of an event.
To revive loss-making telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL, today’s government decided to merge the two ailing companies as part of a turnaround package that includes increasing employee sovereign bonds, monetizing capital and voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
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