VRS for PSEs to re-open in March

new delhi: the heavy industry ministry has asked the planning commission to enahnce its annual plan allocation by rs 200 crore to effect a voluntary retirement scheme for public sector enterprises next month. the decision of the ministry to re-open its vrs comes in tandem with a recent cabinet decision for offer a vrs scheme to surplus staff. "it is proposed to target the remaining pockets of redundancy in the pses by reopening the vrs in these pses during march 2002 for a limited period of one month," official sources said. sources said the ministry had estimated the scheme to cost around rs 200 crore on account of payment of ex-gratia to the separating employees. while the finance ministry is understood to have agreed to the inclusion of a provision of rs 250 crore in the non-plan budget of 2002-03 to take care of other employee- related liabilities, the heavy industry ministry had approached planning commission to enhance annual plan allocation to the department by a minimum of rs 200 crore. making out a case for increasing the plan allocation, sources said that in the absence of a corresponding provision in the plan budget the entire manpower rationalisation programme was liable to be disrupted. the commission is understood to have proposed a budgetary support for 2002-03 to be limited to rs 100 crore against rs 351 crore proposed by the department.