Shape up or ship out, BSNL to tell employees
AGGRESSIVE No salary hikes in 2017 until the organisation makes profits once again, plans to cut down on unnecessary expenditure
NEW DELHI: An ultimatum has been served to the 2.25 lakh employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) — to make it profitable if their employees wish to have a pay hike in 2017 — the year when their salaries come up for revision.
In 2007, BSNL managed to revise salaries as it had registered a profit. In 2007-08, its net profit was ` 3,009 crore on an interest income of ` 4,004 crore that helped it claim a 25% hike in salaries.
The public sector major was so aggressive that it was able to match the net subscriber addition during that year with that of market leader Bharti Airtel.
“On Wednesday, I will speak to all BSNL Unions and my message will be direct: ‘shape up or ship out’. They cannot expect a hike in salary with BSNL’s current financial status,” Anupam Shrivastava, CMD, BSNL, told HT.
BSNL senior officials say his last meeting with employees had some effect. They have started discussions with franchisees in decision-making even at the district level.
“The marketing is critical and employees are closely working with franchisees, which wasn’t the case earlier,” said Shrivastava.
However, employee unions are also preparing a few points for the CMD. “They should reduce unnecessary expenditure. Why should a general manager’s meeting be held in a five-star hotel while BSNL has a huge facility at its headquarters? Why has BSNL not monetised the flats that have not been taken up by its employees? Why has the management not fought with the government to get approvals to purchase the latest technology and equipment?” said VN Namboodri, former convenor of BSNL Employees Union.
Communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has also made it a point to highlight how his government is keen to revive BSNL by 2018.
Shoots of revival are already visible. BSNL’s income from services increased by 4.16 % in 2014-15 in comparison to a negative performance the previous year. This stands at ` 27,242 crore, which is the highest in comparison to the previous five years. Besides, after suffering operating losses in 2013-14, BSNL earned operating profits again in 2014-15. Its employees and administrative expenses have also shown a declining trend in 2014-15.
BSNL had bad financial results for the last few years but in 2014-15, it has been able to reverse the trend. Also, it is a known fact that most telecom majors have heavy debt burdens but BSNL still continues to be relatively better, showing a low debt equity ratio.