The board of state-run telecom services provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has accepted a proposal to lay off nearly 54,000 employees. Deccan Herald reports that BSNL is “waiting for elections to get over before taking the final call”.

According to the report, “sources close to the development” said the BSNL board in its March meeting approved three out of 10 suggestions proposed by an expert panel set up by the government. One of the recommendations that was approved is the reduction of retirement age from 60 years to 58 years, VRS for all employees aged 50 and above, and expediting the allocation of 4G spectrum to BSNL.

Deccan Herald points out that the “decision on retirement age and VRS will see the exit of around 54,451 BSNL employees, which is 31% of its 174,312-strong workforce”. Reducing the retirement age will reduce the number of employees by 33,568 and BSNL is “expected to save a total of ₹13,895 crore over the next six years on the wage bill”.

It quoted sources at the Department of Telecommunications as saying: “Announcing the VRS package or job cuts and shutting down businesses of the telecom firm would have huge implications on employees and ongoing elections. DoT decided to wait and watch.”