TLI Staff
New Delhi: Remaining non-committal over revision of pensions of retired employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the government has said that poor financial health of the state-owned telecom company does not allow a raise in post-retirement benefits.
“Due to poor financial condition of BSNL, it has not been possible for the Government to agree to the demand of pay revision. Hence, the issue of pension revision has also not been agreed to as on date,” Minister for Communications, Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
The Minister said that pension revision of retired BSNL employees gets linked to the pay-revision of the serving employees inasmuch as pension is calculated on the basic pay which the retired employee was earning at the time of retirement.
“Pension may be revised if the said basic pay is revised on account of pay revision of serving employees,” he said.
Asked if the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is responsible to revise the pension of the retired BSNL employees he said that DoT being the administrative department for BSNL, any pension revision proposal is to be piloted by it for the approval of the competent authority.
In the National Convention of the PSU employees scheduled on December 19, one of the major demands is revision of pension for retired BSNL and MTNL employees as per the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).
The Conventions is being organised by the Public Sector Co-ordination Committee of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an RSS affiliate.
Terming some of the Modi government’s policies as lopsided, the employees of the PSUs are set to oppose privatization, disinvestment and strategic sale of the state-run companies.
Instead of selling the loss-making and sick PSUs, the employees’ grouping has demanded reviving them.
The government has, however, maintained that it would exit all non-priority sector and retain PSUs only in the areas of sovereign functions and strategic areas such as nuclear power among others.