'Pre-Diwali gift' as BSNL staff to get September salary before Diwali

New Delhi, Oct 15: Putting an end to the agonising wait of employees over delayed salaries during the festival season, crisis-ridden Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has said that it is hopeful of paying salaries to its 1.76 lakh employees for September before Diwali.

BSNL Chairman and Managing Director PK Purwar told to IANS that it is likely to pay September salary to its employees, before Diwali.

"We will give salaries to the employees before Diwali from our own resources on accruals. We generate Rs 1,600 crore a month revenues from services," BSNL chairman and MD P.K. Purwar told.

Earlier it was reported that the government might infuse funds to take care of employees' salaries and pay the vendor's bill during the upcoming festive season. Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA) had earlier written to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to help them get Rs 3,000 crore from BSNL after multiple reminders sent to the firm remained unanswered.

State-owned distressed telecom firms Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and BSNL have been incurring losses and have been facing problems in clearing staff salaries in the recent past.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for some time now has been working on a rescue plan for the two companies in the form of a revival package that entails components such as voluntary retirement scheme, asset monetisation and allocation of 4G spectrum.

Estimated loss
BSNL's loss is estimated to be around Rs 14,000 crore with a decline in revenue to Rs 19,308 crore during 2018-19.
The public sector firm's provisional loss was Rs 4,859 crore in 2015-16, Rs 4,793 crore in 2016-17, Rs 7,993 crore in 2017-18 and is estimated to swell to Rs 14,202 crore in 2018-19, according to information presented in Parliament.
The number of employees in BSNL stands at 1,65,179.