DoT Likely to Shelve BSNL's VRS Proposal Amid Union Protests

After uproar from the employees' unions, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has likely put the second voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) proposal for BSNL on hold, officials said.

- Jatin Grover

The telecom department will hold further consultations internally and is also expected to loop in Boston Consulting Group (BCG) before going ahead with the proposal. Notably, BCG is being paid ₹132 crore to draw a revival plan for BSNL and help it to compete with private players.

Last week, the BSNL management had approved the proposal for a second VRS scheme for BSNL. Upon implementation, the VRS scheme would have led to a reduction of at least 35% of its workforce of over 56,000 executives and non-executive employees. The same would have led to an outgo of ₹15,000 crore for the government.