7th Pay Commission: BSNL employees may see recommendations implemented in April

The employees of loss-making Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) may have some good news on the 7th Pay Commission front. The workers have long been protesting over a salary hike and pension revision, among several other demands, under the banner of the All India Unions and Associations of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (AUAB). The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which has already forwarded these demands to the Ministry of Finance, may implement the recommendations of the pay panel in April 2019 itself, Jansatta reported.

Meanwhile, the state-owned telco will be holding a crucial board meeting tomorrow to discuss the last fiscal's financial results as well as chart out a roadmap for the year ahead. "The board meeting is scheduled for April 4 as of now, the approval of the board for raising the ceiling limit for availing the capex loans (from Rs 4,300 crore currently) will be taken and then sent to the Telecom Ministry. The meeting will also draw up investment plans for the next fiscal and targets as well," a source told IANS.

Significantly, BSNL's board has two nominees from the DoT, who will be apprised of BSNL's plan of action for the current fiscal, covering the gamut from surviving challenges in the hyper-competitive sector to network expansion and likely expenditure. The department has already ensured a comfort letter for BSNL to avail Rs 3,500 crore working capital from banks for the maintenance of its networks.

BSNL, at the moment, has three proposals pending for its revival with DoT-its Rs 6,535 crore VRS proposals to bring down employees base from a huge 1.76 lakh crore; the demand for allotment of 4G spectrum, which has been referred to TRAI, and the monetisation of its land, which will be decided by the Disinvestment Department of the Finance Ministry as DIPAM is the nodal centre of non-core asset monetisation across Ministries.

(Edited by: Sushmita Choudhury)

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