92,000 BSNL, MTNL staff opt for VRS

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today informed the Lok Sabha that over 92,000 employees of BSNL and MTNL had opted for Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Terming the two telecom PSUs as strategic assets, he said the government was committed to making these telcos profitable and professional. The merger of BSNL and MTNL will have pan-India footprint, synergy in operations, reduction of fixed costs and overheads, among others, to provide better quality of services to customers, he said during the question hour.

As part of the revival efforts, voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) was introduced for the staff of the two telecom firms and December 3 was the last date for submitting the applications.