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| For BSNL, remote areas are out of bounds | | | Gareeb Dass
Jammu | June 20
For BSNL mobile susbscribers several areas in Jammu and Kashmir are out of bounds.Once you cross Pul Doda your cell phone will not be operational.It goes to sleep as if some sleeping tablets have been administered.Once you are in Katra and moving towards the shrine of Mata Vaishnov Devi your BSN link gets snapped..Move towards the upper reaches of Kishtwar,Bhaderwah,Reasi,Udhampur,Rajouri or Poonch in the Jammu region you are beyond the reach of a caller calling from Jammu.You are out of the range once you move beyond Baramulla,Budgam,Tangmarg,Bandipore,,Kupwara or Qazigund the BSNL link falls to sleep.Those living in these out of bound areas in the Kashmir valley or in Doda,Katra or Reasi belts suspect some nexus between the Airtel and the BSNL on the plea that wherever the BSNL link goes to sleep the Airtel gets active.This has been the reson the company executives,businessmen,journalists,police officers and others have been forced to get additional backup by supplementing the BSNL connection with an Airtel link.If you do not believe it carry out a snap survey and you will find senior Government funrctionaries carrying two cell phones,one having the BSNL link the other one of the Airtel origin.
In this sector of communication the private sector has outclassed the Government sector as is the case in the industrial sector where the public sector corporations stand bowled out by the private companies.The BSNL moble services were introduced several years before the Airtel or Aircel opened their shops in Jammu and Kashmir.Then what is the problem ?According to official sources,the BSNL has been able to erect about 500 towers against over 1,000 set up by the Airtel.For the last about two years the BSNL authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have,in a series of communication to the concerned ministry,been seeking approval and funds for erecting more towers for stabilising and expanding the network area in the state.The local authorities have been awaiting some positive response but till date the Communication Ministry has approved erecting only 350 towers when the requirement is about 1000 towers..It does not seem to realise the level of inconvenience caused to the subscribers.One report said that some of the BSNL subscribers have delinked their cell phones from the BSNL connection and have opted for the Airtel.
The BSNL authorities in Delhi have yet to understand what impact it will have on its services when Tata Sky and other companies,including Reliance,were setting up their establishments in Jammu and Kashmir.It is good that the peoplei n the state would be benefitted from the competition among these companies.But is the BSNL prepared to enter the competitive market?.I doubt when its services in other sectors are below average.You may be lucky to get 197 for finding a telephone number of your friend or some acquaintance after dialling the number 10 or 15 times.Your are lucky if your complaint regarding nonfunctional of your landline phone is registered or corrective measures taken within a week.Those whose computers have broad band BSNL connections invariably feel frustrated over either the snapping of the link or over slow speed. and their repeated requests are not usually attended to.Against this private enterpreneurs who have provided you with broad band or Sify connections attend to your complaint promptly.Possibly the BSNL authorities treat their undertaking as indispensable as "Dalda ghee."They are mistaken.Major companies are trying to knock down their size and indispensability.The BSNL authorities do not seem to have a proper feedback as far as the reaction of people in the Kashmir valley is concerned.Those in the valley who feel inconvenienced from the poor BSNL services,whether it is maintaining the communication links or the issuance of phone bills or enlarging the time frame for rectifying faults start blaming the entire Government of India holding it responsible for sabotaging their interests and comforts.When people faced lot of hardships from receiving phone bills weeks after the payment date,the BSNL authorities were forced to dispense with the private courier agency and reverted back to the postal authorities.However,not much improvement and the BSNL people blame the postal services and the latter the former saying that their offices receive the bills late.We should give credit to the BSNL for keeping its counters open from 8 A.M.to 8P.M. on all the seven days a week where payment of bils is accepted.It would be in the interest of people if the BSNL takes in hand same revolutionary steps in improving customer services by ensuring uninterrupted cell and landline services. |
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