the goan I network
MARGAO
A Customer Outreach Programme of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Wednesday saw customers from South Goa demanding transparency by the telephone service provider in its operations if it hopes to effectively take on the private players.
Customers made a forceful demand to the BSNL officials led by Deputy General Manager, S B Akiwat to come out with the KYC scheme for the BSNL customers instead of constantly seeking records and documents already in possession of the service provider.
The Customer Outreach Programme held at BSNL South Goa district office at Margao was the culmination of a series of such programmes held across the State. Given that the programme evoked lukewarm response at Ponda, Vasco and Curchorem, customers made a forceful plea to the deputy general manager, Akiwat to have the outreach programme in these three centres.
The deputy general manager had to face a barrage of questions from the customers, including the question whether BSNL had lodged any complaints with the police when the cables are destroyed during road digging activities. The customers insisted that filing police complaints will deter the concerned departments from digging the roads recklessly. Incidentally, Akiwat could not dish out statistics whether his department had lodged any complaints relating to cutting of the underground telephone cables.
GOACAN coordinator Roland Martins said the time has now come for the BSNL to maintain transparency in its functioning. He pointed out that BSNL should update information regarding the line capacity and the feasibility of issuing connections, including land line and broadband. “We don’t find any such information kept in public domain when customers visit the 90 telephone exchanges located across South Goa,” he said.
He said information is not forthcoming easily from the BSNL and cited an instance how the BSNL had been withholding information on the number of Junior Telecom Officers manning the 90 telephone exchanges in the district.
In his address, Akiwat pointed out that BSNL has around 56,000 land line customers in South Goa district, besides around 22,000 broadband customers.
Presently, BSNL has a network of around 109 mobile towers across the South Goa district.
