BSNL Employees’ Union Slams Management For Financial Troubles, Urges Authorities To Withdraw VRS

These comments from the union come after reports emerged claiming that the board of directors of the telecom firm intend to slash its workforce by 35 per cent via another round of VRS.

The BSNL Employees’ Union (BSNLEU) strongly criticised the management of the telecom company for failing to enhance revenue generation. The union laid blame on the government policies for the state-run telecom player’s current financial woes.

Further, the union called on the management to reconsider and take back its decision to execute a second Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for its employees, reported Moneycontrol. These comments from the union come after reports emerged claiming that the board of directors of the telecom firm intend to slash its workforce by 35 per cent via another round of VRS.

In a letter to CMD Rober J Ravi dated December 30, P Abhimanyu, General Secretary, BSNLEU, said, “BSNL's financial problems are not due to its employee strength but rather the management's inability to significantly increase revenue generation. We strongly urge the management to withdraw its decision to implement a second VRS.”

The union said that the company’s policies and managerial inefficiencies should be looked into in detail, calling them the ‘true barriers’ to the firm’s recovery and growth. 

The union further said that there was no explanation for executing another VRS in the firm. “The main recognised trade union strongly opposes this decision and demands its withdrawal,” the body said. It even cited the case of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) as an example where several VRS schemes failed to improve the financial performance of the firm, leading it towards closure.

Around March 2024, BSNL employed a workforce of 29,750 executives and 26,435 non-executives. The first VRS was put in place in 2020 which resulted in 80,000 workers going in for retirement as against the expected number of 30,000 to 35,000.

In comparison to private players such as Airtel and Jio, the company reportedly allocates 38 per cent of its revenue on employee salaries. The union, however, termed this comparison skewed saying that the private operators earn much higher revenues, making their salary expenses look smaller in proportion.