Telecom minister asks BSNL staff to opt for performance or VRS

Manoj Sinha, MoS, Telecom

SENDING a strong message to the BSNL employees to pull up their socks stay competitive, Minister of State (independent charge) for telecom Manoj Sinha has asked the state-run PSU to consider implementing 'performance related pay'.
"I was just speaking to the telecom secretary that 'performance related pay' is implemented in a lot of places, so why not BSNL also discusses it...instead of imposing it from the top, why don't you all discuss this and tell us whether the telecom department should consider such a proposal," Sinha said....
at BSNL's Heads of Circle Conference. "Good workers need to be certainly rewarded...but the mindset that salary will come on the first day of the month whether or not work is done...one needs to come out of that mindset," he said.
The minister also instructed BSNL to strictly adhere to the deadline of December 2016 for completion of National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project.
"I was looking at your progress report...there are many areas where there is a negative growth...there is no need for such people to remain...if these people responsible for negative growth remain for a long time, then BSNL cannot progress or improve," he added.
Expressing disappointment at instances where telephone related complaints were being closed without actual resolution, the minister said genuine complaints should be addressed.
"If the quality of services is not good, then no telephony plan will work...So the focus should be on improving the services," he said.
Sinha asked BSNL to set a deadline to achieve 15 per cent market share. "BSNL's share is currently pegged at 10.4 per cent. Please decide a timeframe for achieving 15 per cent share...It is important to keep an ambitious goal," he said.
Pointing out that landline connections in India are declining when globally there is no such trend, Sinha asked BSNL to introspect why schemes like free night-time calling and low tariffs are not able to arrest the decline in landline connections.
Earlier, BSNL chairman and managing director (CMD) Anupam Shrivastava said, “This is the most crucial year in the history of BSNL because 2017 will be the year when our salaries are going to be revised as a third PRC (Pay Review Committee), and let me tell you ... unless we are profitable the salary is not going to be revised." Referring to Air India and ITI, he said that the two ailing PSUs couldn’t revise their salaries due to poor financial health. Shrivastava said the next year is a very important year and we have to make sure that this year our profit and loss account looks good.
Earlier, former Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said that BSNL will post over three-fold jump in its operating profit at Rs 2,000 crore for financial year 2015-16. The minister, who is now Law Minister after the July 5 Cabinet reshuffle, said, “BSNL was in heavy loss. We brought it in operating profit of Rs 672 crore in first year (of coming to power). Audit is on. By end of August when final audited result will be declared then BSNL will strike an operating profit of over Rs 2000 plus this year."