The Madras High Court bench here on Thursday ordered notice to the
Ministry of Telecommunication and Bharat Sanchar Nigam limited (BSNL) on
two public interest litigation petitions that sought restoration and
continuance of the telegram service in India.
The petitioners contended that the BSNL failed to consider the rural
masses before scrapping the telegram service. In his petition, I.Robert
Chandrakumar, a Madurai-based advocate, claimed that 70 per cent of
India’s population lived in the rural areas where communication through
mobile phones and email had not reached.
“Telegram is also an integral mode of communication for the lawyers,
litigants, armed force and police. Urgent interim orders in habeas
corpus, bail and civil cases are normally communicated by the court
through telegram. The armed police personnel extend their leave through
telegram,” he contended.
In another petition, M.Sekaran, president of the Federation of Consumer
and Service Organisations in Tiruchi, alleged that the BSNL gave a
‘stepmotherly treatment’ to the telegram service before scrapping it.
“Considering the advancement in technology, the BSNL should have reduced
the telegram charges to attract the people, but in contrary it had
increased the telegram charges from Rs.3.50 to Rs.27.50,” he said.
“The government continues to run services in loss such as train, bus and
posts for the benefit of the public, but stopped the telegram,” he
contended.
Citing the annual report of 2012-13 published by the Department of
Telecommunication, Mr.Sekaran said rural tele-density was only 39.90 per
cent in 2012-13.
“Around 60.10 per cent of the people in rural India did not have direct
communication facility and they rely on public communication facility
like telegraph for communication,” he claimed.
The BSNL, instead of scrapping the service, should have returned the
service to the Postal Department, which in a dedicated manner handled
the service from 1850 to 1990, he contended.
The petitioners pleaded the court to direct the BSNL to restore the telegram service and hand it over to the Postal Department.
A division bench comprising Justices N.Paul Vasanthakumar and P.Devadass
heard the case on Thursday and ordered the notices. The case was posted
Friday for further hearing.
Source : the Hindu
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