Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reportedly delivered ‘one of the strongest messages ever to BSNL workforce’

The BSNL employees have reportedly received a stern message from Telecom Minister Ashwin Vaishnaw on their work performance noting that while the government stands with the ailing PSU, the employees need to deliver better work performance or there could be consequences. According to The Economic Times report, the Union Communications Minister delivered “one of the strongest messages ever to BSNL workforce," stating that it is time for the BSNL employees “to perform and turnaround within the next 24 months, or go home taking voluntary retirement scheme (VRS)." 

The report stated, in a meeting with chief general managers across operating service areas, the Telecom Minister said the government stands behind BSNL, and asked for the same-level of commitment from the ailing PSU's 62,000 employees. "I will measure key performance indicators (KPI) and results every month, and those who won't work, may go home taking VRS," Vaishnaw said according to The Economic Times report.

The Telecom Minister further said “perform or perish" will be the norm and a new normal, and those who hesitate in taking VRS, may be compulsorily retired by invoking 56 (J) rule. Under the Central government framework, the Fundamental Rule (FR) 56 (J)/(I) allows such a measure after a periodical review in order to strengthen the administration, according to the report.

The Economic Times report said, in a 15.38-minute viral audio clip, the Telecom Minister said, "You (BSNL staff) are working in a competitive industry, and only your work can save you. In the next 24 months, we want to see results. We now want absolutely superlative performance from each and every person, neat and clean offices, and you should promptly take customer calls, and provide 100 times better response than private telecom companies." 

Meanwhile, in another development, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday paid a courtesy call on Ashwini Vaishnav, Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology. On the request of Dhami, the Union Minister approved 1,206 mobile towers of BSNL in Uttarakhand to strengthen the mobile network in the state. The cost of each mobile tower will be ₹ 1 crore, according to ANI report.

During the meeting with, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister also requested to start a Jan Shatabdi rail service between Tanakpur-Dehradun. The Chief Minister said that at present, there is only one train service running between Dehradun-Kathgodam to connect Kumaon and Garhwal. People move from Tanakpur because of the Nepal border and so, to further strengthen the Kumaon-Garhwal connectivity, it is necessary to operate a Jan Shatabdi rail on the Tanakpur-Dehradun route in the public interest, the report said.

(With inputs from ANI, The Economic Times)

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