WE THE PEOPLE
Non-delivery of bills, Erratic Helpline and frequent break down in Internet service continue to remain irksome
Hence people seek CGMT’s intervention, demand overhauling to bring defective system back on rails in Kashmir
By: Shirjeel Ahmad
SRINAGAR: All tall claims of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have proved false and brought the Organization into complete disrepute in Kashmir valley. The Subscribers continue to face hardships due to non-receipt of monthly bills and frequent break down in Internet Service has affected their connectivity with rest of the world quite adversely. Defective Helpline is for namesake as it remains out of order most of the time, leaving thereby the Callers high and dry. Moreover, common people have no easy access to the General Managers’ office as it completely fortified and only influential ones can walk in without any resistance.
Pertinent to mention that information revolution did not begin in our century. It was the ninetieth century that saw the advent of the telegraph, the telephone and the development of automobiles. The major positive contribution of the communication revolution is that it has brought people together and fostered a feeling of a global village. But the telecommunication system in Jammu and Kashmir in general and Kashmir Valley in particular has become a riddle and brought people face to face with umpteen difficulties. The Internet service plays a truant and brings the users face to face with severe hardships. With no effective Helpline, the subscribers are totally disappointed and dejected. The billing procedure is totally faulty and the subscribers do not receive bills on time and whenever received are generally inflated.
None can dispute the fact that most of the developmental activities are intimately connected with effective communication system in the world of today. This is substantiated by the success story of many advanced countries, which have set-up bases in outer space and are exploring possibilities to establish safe zones to ensure safety and security for their people. They have even identified areas, which are having rich mineral wealth, but India has to travel a lot to tread into such areas. It has not yet made advances in Tele-technology despite having captured several world markets in software and hardware. But the story Kashmir Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. is all the more pathetic and its poor performance has set-up shock waves across the length and breadth of the valley of Kashmir. Its faulty Internet and GPRS services have caused loss to Kashmir business of a very high order and Media community stands affected quite adversely. Besides frequent breakdowns in landlines, non-delivery of Tele-bills followed by dis-connections, erratic Helpline and apathetic attitude of its field-staff have become its hallmarks. It is all the more disgusting to notice that its Commercial Section get Tele-connections of the subscribers disconnected for remittance of over-delayed bills. Its officials seem to be oblivious of the ground realities and indifferent to the problems of the subscribers and as such curse those, who are responsible for allowing this department to fall under the administrative control of Central Authorities.
“ We face lot of difficulty whenever our landlines go out of service and the problem gets further compounded when cellphones stop functioning. Getting inflated bills of our telephone connections and that too belatedly has become the routine feature of BSNL in Kashmir. On questioning the veracity of the amounts charged by the BSNL, there is no plausible explanation from the concerned. The officials of the Commercial Section behave like lords and bother least for the subscribers. Moreover, such officials are in a fortified building, where civilians lack access. The Helpline provided by the Organization never resolves issues of the subscribers as it hardly responds to their calls. The manual line seldom responds and the case of computerized line is all the more annoying. It is generally no-functional,” said a group of people waiting for their turn outside the main counter of the BSNL at Exchange Road.
Hence people seek GMT’s intervention, demand overhauling to bring defective system back on rails in Kashmir. They urge the top brass of the Company to turn responsive to the genuine demands of the subscribers and mitigate their sufferings without any further delay. They have suffered a lot, let them not suffer any more!
More 
