BSNL, MTNL scramble to pay salaries before Holi

NEW DELHI: The festival of Holi remains colourless for about 1.92 lakh employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) who are yet to receive salaries for the month of February and with no roadmap in place for March salary.“There have been delays in salary for last three months. We have not got any salary for February. The officials have told us that they can pay only when the government would release the funds,” a BSNL employee confirmed.

The situation is similar for MTNL employees. However, top management has confirmed that the government will release funds ahead of Holi. “We have released Rs 171 crore on Tuesday for MTNL and issued orders to pay salaries and arrears to its employees,” said a senior official in the Department of Telecom (DoT). MTNL CEO Pravin Kumar Purwar said it would begin disbursing salaries from March 14.