CUDDALORE: Those at the helm of affairs in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd should motivate the workforce to face the competition and challenges. They must first ensure workers' role in decision-making and then graduate to their participation in management, according to K. Sridhara, Chief General Manager, BSNL, Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle, Chennai.

Presenting the Sanchar Seva Padak and Sanchar Sarathy Awards — 2006 here on Thursday, Mr. Sridhara said providing bandwidth and connectivity, BSNL must concentrate on applications of innovative ideas. Mobile phone services had immense possibility, as it could be utilised for remote control operations too.

He commended the performance of the Cuddalore division for attaining the fourth place in terms of profitability in the Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle, the first three being Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Pondicherry. Against the standard fault rate set by the Telecom Regulator Authority at 3 per cent a month, the Cuddalore division achieved 2.51 per cent a month, he said.

T.S. Kuppuswamy, Principal General Manager (Operations), BSNL, said when private operators started cell phone services in 1995-96, the call charges were about Rs. 25-Rs. 50 a minute and the handset weighed 300 to 500 grams. After BSNL's entry, the charges were slashed to Re. 1 per minute and the handsets had become sleek and slender. The Tirunvelveli and Vellore exchanges bagged national awards last year. It was for the first time that two exchanges in a telecom circle won such an honour.

Phone on demand

T. Rajendran, General Manager, Cuddalore division, said 3,000 landline and 9,000 wireless on local loop connections were given in the last three months. The waiting list had been liquidated but for the 300 applications from the hilly terrains.

Pondicherry General Manager Marshal Antony Leo, Deputy General Managers, K. Shanmugasundaram and K. Raveendran, and Public Relations Officer K. Elangovan were among those who spoke.

The Sanchar Seva Padak awardees were: K. Mohan, Junior Telecom Officer, Ulundurpet; P. Sivakkumaran, Sub-Divisional Officer, Cuddalore; and E.V. Venkatesan, Chief Accounts Officer (Finance), Cuddalore. The Sanchar Sarathy awardees were: M. Nazir Basha, telecom mechanic, Elavanasurkottai; G. Asokan, senior section supervisor; and J. Jalatharan, regular mazdoor, Cuddalore. The awards carried a citation, a medallion and a cash prize of Rs. 11,000 each.

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