BSNL hangs up on Mulayam

If the BSNL has its way, there will be no more free calls for Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Cabinet colleagues. And to show tha...

If the BSNL has its way, there will be no more free calls for Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Cabinet colleagues. And to show that it is serious about recovering pending dues, the BSNL has decided to start from the top, disconnecting one of the phone lines (No 2636768) allotted to the CM himself.

This phone connection, installed at Mulayam’s residence at 5 K D, had pending dues of Rs 29,123. Now, calls to the number get a message stating that ‘‘service to the dialled number has been temporarily withdrawn”. This action follows the BSNL’s letter, dated October 21, 2004, to the government, asking for immediate payment of all pending bills on phones installed at the homes of ministers. As per the letter, the defaulters have to pay up by tomorrow, failing which the telephone authorities have threatened to disconnect the lines by Monday. Besides Mulayam, the other top defaulters include:

• Shivpal Singh Yadav, PWD Minister, owes Rs 1,18,412 on Phone No. 2235190;

• Askok Bajpayee, Agriculture Minister, owes Rs 80,259 on Phone No. 2205825;

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• Hari Shankar Tiwari, Stamp and Court Fee Minister, owes Rs 21,749 on phone No. 2238345;

• Ram Pyare Singh, Environment Minister, owes Rs 13,288 on 2721187;

• Dinesh Singh, Minister of State, owes Rs 33,209 on phone No. 2239101;

• Kailash, Revenue Minister, owes Rs 2,25,180 on phone No. 2307114;

• Virendra Singh Bundela, Minister of State (independent charge) for Programme Implementation, owes Rs 28,494 on phone 2238837;

• Vinod Kumar Singh, Minister of State for Medical Education, owes Rs 49,052 on Phone No. 2239674;

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• Ganesh Pratap Singh, MoS for Irrigation, owes Rs 30,409 on phone 2208178.

Earlier, Express had reported how the Secretariat Administration Department, in a letter dated September 7, 2004, had asked the BSNL to ensure the telephone lines of the 28 defaulting ministers were not disconnected.

But BSNL authorities had brushed aside the demand, pointing out that it was central government policy decision.

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