BSNL, MTNL contract staff payment contractors’ duty: Minister

New Delhi: BSNL and MTNL contractual employees would have to fend for themselves as they are on the rolls of their contractors and not of the two state-run telecom companies, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha from Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Dola Sen, IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that contractual staff are not employees of either the BSNL or MTNL.

“They are contract employees of the contractors who are given a work for a specific purpose, subject to renewal. We have no problem with that but the obligation to pay the dues of the workers is that of the contractors,” Prasad said.

On being asked by about the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for the regular employees of the two companies, he said that the package is very attractive.