Govt says hello to J-K again, STD on

The Department of Telecommunication today restored ISD and STD facilities to private PCO and STD operators here. The Cabinet Committee on Se...

The Department of Telecommunication today restored ISD and STD facilities to private PCO and STD operators here. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had banned long-distance calling from bordering states including Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir on January 1.

The CCS had also suspended internet services following the December 13 attack on Parliament and the possibility of an Indo-Pak war to check possible leakage of vital information regarding the country’s security.

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), one of the major telecommunication providers in J-K, had withdrawn the long-distance calling facility from around 2,200 PCO operators and the three dozen registered net dhabas here. The BSNL had banned calls to Pakistan in 1990, a facility which hasn’t been restored till date.

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General Manager, Telecommunication, Sunil Kumar, said: ‘‘I have received a communique from the Central Government last night to restore the STD facility.’’ He added that owing to the large number of PCOs operating under 73 exchanges throughout the valley, STD linkage would be complete only by evening.

The news has come as a relief to PCO operators here, who were expecting more delays due to the current tension between India and Pakistan following the Jammu attack. The ban had drawn a lot of criticism from the public as people felt it was rather futile considering incoming calls couldn’t be stopped.

Also, militants in Kashmir are equipped with state-of-the-art satellite phones, Yashoo and Kenwood radio sets that can connect them ‘‘uninterruptedly’’ to Pakistan from any part of Kashmir.

The militant communication, admit security officers, is so powerful that they are difficult to disrupt. The suspension of internet services wasn’t much of a bother either. People just connected through the Delhi server.