DIMAPUR DEC 6 (MExN): The North East Students’ Organization (NESO) has strongly reminded the Government of India particularly during the ongoing Parliament session regarding NESO’s objection to the proposed privatization of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to a multi-national company with share ratio of 74% privatization.
In a statement issued by Dr Samujjal Bhattacharjya, Chairman and NSN Lotha, General Secretary, the NESO made it clear that the people would not tolerate handing over the telecom service to a private company. Iterating that telecom services are an important lifeline for the people and is a subject-matter of public welfare, the NESO stated that the Center should realize that it was duty-bound to guarantee people’s welfare from whom it had secured mandate. “In no case it should be made to be played upon by profit-mongering private companies at the cost of the general public,” the NESO asserted. The organization also questioned why only Jammu & Kashmir was exempted from the purview of privatization on grounds of political unrest when the NE region was also undergoing a similar political unrest. In this regard the NESO strongly demanded the Center not to privatize BSNL “so as to win over the people of NE towards the sentiments of mainland India.” The release while apprising that the NESO had already met with several MPs of the NE in this regard, appealed to the MPs to raise their voice united and object to the privatization during the winter session of the Parliament.
It is pertinent to mention that the daily functioning and development of the BSNL NE-II (Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland) with its headquarters in Dimapur, has been affected due to frequent transfers of Chief General Manager and General Managers. While the normal duration of posting for BSNL NE-II senior officials is 2 years, this policy has not always been satisfied. For instance, former CGM Dr. Chakrabarty assumed the post for 8 months, while his replacement lasted for 3 months. These transfers without any public explanation has hurt the credibility of the office. Senior officials of the BSNL expressed that “frequent changes of officials have affected the development of BSNL NE-II.”
It is said that top officials have their own individual styles of functioning and require a minimum of 5 to 6 months to understand the socio-cultural and political situation of the people and in particular the topography and terrain of the region so as to suit their method of functioning and policy to the requirement.
With the frequent transfers of senior officials this important feature has not been satisfied. This has undermined the functioning of the office and caused inconveniences to the public. It remains to be seen how long the Government of India will wait before ordering the transfer of the new CGM Ashok Golas, who took charge in November.
Meanwhile the NESO condemned the shooting of Xavier Rutsa, Journalist, by miscreants. The organization urged the Nagaland Government to ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are booked without delay so that the incident doesn’t reoccur. “The press media personnel are bound to disseminate news to the people (in time) and scrupulously. (In this regard) it would be unfortunate for the Government of Nagaland to allow such crime to go unsolved as the consequence will be very severe in the days to come” the NESO stated.
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