Good news for BSNL staff: Cabinet okays pension revision

THE Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 5 approved pension revision to the retirees of public sector telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) by allowing the benefit of merger of 50 per cent DA/DR with basic pay.
The pension revision for BSNL pensioners and family pensioners will amount to 78.2 per cent DA/DR for the purpose...
of fitment and modifying BSNL's liability towards pensionary benefits payments to retired employees.
This revision will fulfil the long pending demand of revision of pension of BSNL absorbed employees who retired prior to June 10, 2013 and will bring the pensioners at par with the serving employees of BSNL by removing the anomalies.
"The decision of the Cabinet has come in the wake of an anomalous situation created in the difference of pension formula among the BSNL retirees, who retired before and after June 10, 2013," said a cabinet communique.
Pension has been revised with effect from January 1, 2007 for BSNL pensioners who retired before June 10, 2013 to be on par with serving BSNL employees.
Also, the pension liability of Department of Telecommunications (DOT), Department of Telecom Services (DTS) and Department of Telecom Operations (DTO) who retired before October 1, 2010 will be solely borne by the central government while BSNL will have no liability in respect of these employees.
The revision will entail an estimated recurring annual expenditure of approximately Rs 129.63 crore for pensioners and Rs 24.93 crore for family pensioners while arrears from 2013-14 would amount to Rs 239.92 crore for pensioners and Rs 44.62 crore for family pensioners.
As many as 118,500 pensioners across the country are slated to benefit from the revision.
Earlier, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad 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."
BSNL is in process of preparing its financial result for 2015-16. Before this, BSNL had posted operating profit of Rs 916 crore in 2012-13. The company registered total income of Rs 28,645 crore and net loss stood at Rs 8,234 crore in 2014-15.
However, increase in the amount of DCRG (death cum retirement gratuity), leave encashment and commutation of pension in respect of these pensioners shall not be increased on this account, it added.
BSNL will have to continue discharging pension liability by way of pension contribution for the period they are working or have worked.
The revision will "help in reducing the financial burden of BSNL and removing prospects of industrial unrest in BSNL while fulfilling the commitment of Government."