Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
27-September-2016 19:16 IST
BSNL should connect 1
lakh Gram Panchayats with broadband connectivity at the earliest - Manoj Sinha
The Telecom Minister Shri Manoj
Sinha today gave a stern message to BSNL that he will not tolerate any delay
and the Telecom PSU should connect one lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) through
Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) to set up a network infrastructure to serve the rural
masses. He said, all are working with zeal to achieve the target of connecting
2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats with Broadband Network within stipulated timeframe,
which is the vision of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for Digital India.
Speaking at an award ceremony function of BSNL here, Shri Sinha said,
those who are working with zeal should be rewarded and those should take VRS
from where reports of negative growth is coming on a continuous basis. The
Minister urged the BSNL to find new invention, new research and new technology
and to give World Class products for achieving Prime Minister’s vision of
Transforming India through Digital Revolution. He said that there is need for
innovation as India cannot afford to emulate the Developed Economies due to
limited resources. He said, if India will lag in catching up with emerging
technologies, the very existence of the country will be at stake. He exhorted
the officials and other stakeholders to “Walk the Talk” and underlined that it
is our bounden duty to digitally empower the huge chunk of population particularly
in rural areas who are still deprived of IT revolution.
Shri Sinha asked BSNL officers
and employees to set an ambitious target of 15 percent Telecom penetration
within a time frame from the existing 10.4 percent and asked the PSU to any
competition head on and compete with other big Telecom Operators as BSNL is now
equipped with new technology, dedicated work force, equipment and financial
resources. He also expressed concern that despite the worldwide trend, the
number of land line connections in India is decreasing every day and BSNL
should think seriously about this issue. He said, unless the BSNL will not
improve its service quality, Plan-49 or Plan-II-49 will not succeed to have
connection at Rs 49. BSNL through the above two plans have made call free on
Sunday and from 9.00 pm to 7 am each day and the Telco PSU is also providing
Broadband connectivity at cheaper rates. He also asked BSNL to resolve all the
complaints promptly and any reluctance on this front will not be tolerated.
Shri Sinha said that the Country is on the verge of Data Revolution, and if
India will lag behind on this front, history will not forgive us. He said, it
is easy to befool through jugglery of data and facts, but ultimately work should
be seen to have been done.
Speaking on the occasion,
Secretary, Telecom Shri J.S.Deepak said that it is a matter of pride that since
April, 2015, BSNL has come to operating profit it is gaining market share on a
regular basis but it should work hard to become the global giant. Referring to
connectivity initiatives in North East, Left Wing Extremist areas, where 2200
towers were installed for better connectivity for the security forces and for
the rural masses living in the remotest areas, Shri Deepak said that in the 2nd
phase 2,000 additional towers will be installed in the naxal-hit areas. He also
called for performance audit of the PSU from time to time.
In his address, the CMD of BSNL Shri Anupam
Srivastav said that the revenue of BSNL IN 2015-16 was Rs 28,450 crore, which
is 4.4 percent more than the revenue in the year 2014-15. He assured the
Minister that BSNL is ready to compete tariff to tariff with any Telecom
Operator and also called for collaborative efforts where the country’s interest
is involved. Shri Srivastav said that due to paucity of instruments and
equipment from 2006-2012, BSNL missed the voice bus, but in the last two years
several initiatives were taken and BSNL is ready for any challenge. He informed
that in the last two years 26,000 mobile towers were installed and in this
financial year 20,000 additional towers will be installed.
