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State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) on Tuesday said that it expects to pay the November salary for its employees within the next few days.
The October salaries was credited on December 5, and the employees were worried that the November salaries would be further delayed.
"The salaries for November are expected this month...very soon," PK Purwar, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL, told reporters in New Delhi, adding that the company would make savings of around ₹1,300 crore this financial year from the salaries itself as more than 50 per cent of the total employees have opted for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
"Once their (employees who availed VRS) are approved and gets effective on January 31, things will get streamlined, and we will have savings of around ₹600 crore per month for February and March this fiscal, which means around ₹1,300 crore savings for this fiscal from salaries only," he said.
He said that the applications for VRS should be considered and approved as most of the employees – from lower ranks to top ranks – who have opted for it.
“It is not that a group (A, B or C) has taken or not taken, it is more or less a dispersed kind of scenario of 97 per cent to 115 per cent in any group who opted for VRS. So it is a wide dispersal acceptance of VRS across the board – all regions and all group of people,” Purwar said.
He said the company will also raise ₹1,500 crore from the markets as funds to raise the company.
Purwar said 78,569 employees have opted the VRS scheme offered by the government and around 70,000 employees will be the strength of the company after January 2020. However, he also added that BSNL has an option to hire contractual employees from third-parties as and when required.
On asked about the update on merger with MTNL, Purwar said that discussions have started and the boards of both the companies have met on a common platform.
He also added that the priority is to integrate the networks and operational synergies for which discussions have also started.
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