Published & Updated as on - 2010-05-03
The
employee strength in 246 state-owned companies declined to 15.35 lakh people in
2008-09 from 15.66 lakh in 2007-08, mainly due to the VRS
New
Delhi: Public sector units, which saw a reduction in their head count in
2008-09 due to voluntary retirement schemes, have started hiring again and may return
to the 2007-08 level of 15.66 lakh employees this fiscal, a senior official
said.
“In the current year, the PSUs may provide gainful
employment,” department of public sector enterprises secretary Bhaskar
Chatterjee told PTI.
These companies are expected to create
fresh employment for 31,000 people in the current fiscal.
He
said the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and attrition were the main reasons
for the head count going down in 2008-09.
“We didn’t issue
any pink slips in 2009-10. We didn’t let (go of) people as the private sector
did,” in the wake of global meltdown, he said.
The employee
strength in 246 state-owned companies declined to 15.35 lakh people in 2008-09
from 15.66 lakh in 2007-08, mainly due to the VRS.
Since the
introduction of the VRS, between October, 1988, and March 2009, about 6.1 lakh
CPSE employees have opted for it, as per the Public Enterprises Survey 2008-09.
“In
the current fiscal, it could come to the earlier level (of 2007-08),” the
secretary said.
Despite the economic slowdown, the PSUs had
shown a profit growth of about 8% in 2008-09.
While the
figures for 2009-10 have not been released, they are expected to have performed
well.
Their profit was estimated to be 11% of turnover in
the last fiscal, which may go up to 13% in 2010-11, Chatterjee
said.
Source: www.livemint.com 02/05/10
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