BSNL submits proposal of VRS for its employees

NEW DELHI, INDIA: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has submitted a proposal of voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for employees who have completed the age of 45 years and have served BSNL as regular employees for 15 years.

"BSNL had consultations with its executive associations and staff unions. BSNL has reported that majority of associations have opposed the scheme or expressed their reservations. The proposal is under examination in the Department of Telecommunications," said minister of state for communications and IT Milind Deora in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

VRS will ensure that the employees get an ex-gratia amount of 60 days salary (basic+dearness allowance) for each completed year of service, or salary for the number of months left in service, whichever is less.

However, the compensation would be subject to the maximum of 60 months' salary.

The ex-gratia amount will be in addition to the normal retirement benefits, the minister said.

The likely expenditure on ex-gratia for approximately 1 lakh employees is estimated to be about Rs.11,276 crore. In addition there will be expenditure on normal retirement benefits, including gratuity, pension, leave encashment and transfer grant.