Paswan8217;s gift to underprivileged8217; causes a stir

Also, the educational qualification to avail of the STD booth facility under the educated unemployed category has been fixed as matric or high school. And no educationalqualification is required in respect of handicapped persons, ex-servicemen, SCs/STs and war widows. The Communications Ministry has also abolished the committee which goes into matters relating to granting of permission to set up STD booths in the country. The committee has not met for over two years and it was found to be an impediment in processing the applications, sources said.

Another move undertaken to make the process of obtaining licences for the STD/ISD/PCO booths has been removing the ceiling of percentage for granting permission in telephone exchanges. Earlier, there was a five per cent ceiling of the equipped capacity of the telephone exchange for STD booth connections.

Meanwhile, Chennai Telephones has initiated steps to clear over 7,000 applications for STD/ISD/PCO booths in the city after the ban on issuing fresh connections was lifted. Sources said the connections will be given within the next couple of months.