No BSNL layoff? CMD Anupam Shrivastava dismisses reports of axing employees, says telco will continue to grow

In a much-needed relief for thousands of BSNL employees, the Chairman and Managing Director of the public sector telecom carrier Anupam Shrivastava has rubbished the reports claiming mass layoff. "Turnaround of BSNL being devised by Department of Telecom and BSNL includes allotment of 4G spectrum & offering lucrative VRS to willing staff. Reduction of retirement age or laying off employees is not at all being considered. BSNL denies any such media appearances in this regard," Shrivastava tweeted. Thus, he made it clear that the VRS option will be available for 'willing' employees. This came after various media reports had claimed that the BSNL was planning to axe 54,000 employees and reduce the retirement age to 58 years from the current 60 years. BSNL has 1.76 lakh employees.

Turnaround of #BSNL being devised by @DoT_India & @BSNLCorporate includes allotment of 4G spectrum & offering lucrative VRS to willing staff. Reduction of retirement age or laying off employees is not at all being considered. BSNL denies any such media appearances in this regard.

— Anupam Shrivastava (@CMDBSNL) April 3, 2019

Shrivastava also shared the latest figures claiming strong growth. "Kudos to the BSNL family of resilient employees & customers that believe in our capabilities for achieving this historical feat. BSNL will continue to grow in the face of competition & prevailing market conditions," he said in a tweet.

The tweet mentioned that BSNL has created history by commissioning 91,000 plus leased circuits during FY2018-19 for its Enterprise customers including banks, other financial/commercial/government establishments. 

BSNL also claimed that it has achieved a record figure of 80,000 new landline connections in March this year.

Meanwhile, the DoT has sought the Election Commission's approval to draft cabinet note for the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's Voluntary Retirement Scheme and has sent the 4G administrative spectrum proposals to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for discussion and recommendations on allocation, quantum and price, reported IANS. 

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BSNL has suffered extremely due to non-allocation of 4G spectrum. If it manages to start 4G LTE services in the next few months, its revenues might shore up as it will increase its subscribers base. The company's current HR bill stand around Rs 900 crore a month.