Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) official was caught napping during a meeting with Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and was forced to take VRS (voluntary retirement scheme). Post the announcement of the Rs 1.64 lakh crore relief package, Vaishnaw had asked the BSNL employees to work hard and turn things around. The minister had asked the employees to leave their “Sarkari attitude” and focus on customer satisfaction to be able to compete with the private telcos. According to a PTI report, Vaishnaw caught a CGM (Chief General Manager) sleeping at the meeting and asked him to leave the room immediately. Further, the CGM was forced to take VRS, which has already been approved. The officer in concern here was serving as CGM, Quality Assurance and Inspection, at Bengaluru. Vaishnaw had already warned the employees that those who don’t work would be forced into early retirement. It looks like his words weren’t empty threats. This situation would definitely instil some fear in the minds of the employees inside BSNL who have not been working well or are taking things for granted. BSNL employees need to take things to the next level for the state-run telco, which is planning to launch homegrown 4G in 2023. There could be a few soft launches in select parts of the country by the end of 2022. But nothing is confirmed for now.
