BSNL shows Indian government's "negligent attitude"

On Nov 29, 2009, the BSNL(Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited - a Public Sector Unit in India that provides land line and cellphone services) land line in my house broke down (t here was no dial tone when I picked up the telephone). They have a 24/7 toll-free number to file complaints and once a complaint is posted BSNL says that it will be fixed in 24-hours. Sounds simple and quick right? Not Quite.

Nov 30, I filed a complaint on the BSNL Customer Care (1500 from a BSNL landline) and this is what they said:
- Your complaint request will be served within 24 hours
- You will get a call from someone within three hours regarding this complaint.

Three hours later: no call
Twenty four hours later: no dial-tone on the telephone.

Dec 1: Like a helpless individual, I called up the same toll-free number, and the staff on the other end said she couldn't do anything except for setting a reminder. In other words, she was just as helpless as I was, except that she was in front of a terminal and everything she said and does was being documented.

Dec 2, I called up the same toll-free number, but this time I was frustrated. Probably the staff on the other end had another one of her "mad customer calls". I told her its been three days since I complained and nothing happened. She gives me a number to call. I don't recall which one it was she gave me because I've gotten more than 5 telephone numbers of different people in the BSNL Chromepet (my area of residence in Chennai) and I have no idea of when I got each of the numbers.

Dec 3: After pestering some people, they suggested that I go to the Chromepet BSNL office to get the issue resolved. I go there at 1600 and they tell me they cannot come today as it was raining. However, the security gave me the telephone number of Mr. Loganathan, the BSNL employee that fixes landlines.

Dec 4: Again, I wen to the BSNL office as nobody had come to my house. Mr. Loganathan was not there again. Decided I would come back in a few hours to nag these people. I was getting mad at these people.

Dec 5: I decided that this was going to be the last time I would go to the BSNL office and if my case wasn't attended to today, I would go to the consumer court. At the office, a senior engineer gives me the telephone and asks me to file a complaint! He didn't care to hear me saying that I already filed a complaint! When I asked the security to inform Mr. Loganathan about the issue, they asked me to come back in twenty minutes. This is when I lost it (my patience that is). I asked them if they can't even communicate properly within themselves. I was determined to take this case to the consumer court as there was no use going after these people.

When I reached home from the office, my mother tells me that Mr. Loganathan has finally arrived and the problem is being fixed. My efforts finally paid off.

If anyone would like to take this as a case and take it to consumer court, I am more than willing to share the details and turn up when required. These people need to know that we will not put up with their horrible service.

For others in New colony, Chromepet, here some tips for you if you have a problem with your landline:
First complain at 1500 or 198 (toll-free numbers from a BSNL landline).
Then call Mr. Loganathan at 044-29008339.
Go to the BSNL office on 3rd main road (opp balaji medical college) and tell them about your problem.

also contact any officer in your area and ask for the contact number of the person that cares (or is supposed to care) to this problem. Keep calling the concerned person all the time.

A college development initiative

The National Institute of Technology, Trichy (NITT), being a leading engineering institute in India, has students of the creamy layer (in terms of intellectual capital) of India. However, student talent remains untapped in many respects, one of them being for the development of the campus.

Hence, I and a friend of mine have embarked on a journey to set up group as the 'campus development committee', which will be a platform for students of NITT to get together to contribute to its development.

We would like to start from the academics. From talks with various people around the campus, we decided to start academic development from the entry point (of any student into NITT). The plan is to start with videos giving insight on what every department in NITT has to offer so that students clearing the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) can make an informed decision on what major they would like to pursue for their under graduation.

More details on the same can be found in our newly created Google Group “NITT Campus Development Committee” (link). Please give us your opinions, insights or advice on the same.

More details on the Campus Development Committee can be found here.

My internship at Rang De

As I mentioned in my earlier blogpost, I did an internship in Rang De. I have completed it successfully and it was really productive and fun. A brief description of what I have done can be found on Rang De July 2009 Newsletter. I would like to thank Ms. Shirley Ghosh, Editor of the Rang De newsletter for refining what I had written. Below is what I wrote (for those who don't want to visit RangDe.Org).

It was whilst I was looking for an internship in December 2008 that I was introduced to Rang De by a fellow ‘yatri’ from the Tata Jagriti Yatra (www.jagritiyatra.org). A visit to the web site www.rangde.org had me completely hooked and thirsting for more. I immediately contacted Smita and expressed my interest.

Six months later I joined Rang De as an intern and started working on “Empower Futures", a loan scheme that aids higher education. Just as I began forming my opinions of “Another office with its share of mundane activities”, I was in for a surprise. Ram and Smita called for a meeting with the entire team. What followed was a brain storming session on how to get more social investors for Rang De. That is when I realized that I was in for a huge roller coaster ride for the next month and a half.

Since then, I have felt that I am a part of the Rang De team and that we’re all working towards its mission collectively. I've been actively involved in several of their initiatives such as the campaigns, both, online and offline, blogging and content development for the new web release. That is the most fulfilling part of an internship in a professionally managed start up like Rang De - you get to do a bit of everything and you learn a lot.

To sum it all up, the internship was highly productive and also great fun. In fact, Rang De now has one more loyal supporter and I intend to work as a volunteer particularly by promoting them on social networks and by blogging. So, see you around.

Tata Jagriti Yatra 2009 - an invitation

Dear Friend,

The Tata Jagriti Yatra is a unique 18-day train journey that takes 350 selected bright youngsters across India, introducing them to extraordinary social and business innovators, the “real heroes” of our country. It is an exciting, exhilarating and exhausting journey as we travel over 8500 kms across the landscape of India. The aim is to
awaken the Entrepreneurial spirit among Indian youth, which stems from a firm belief that Enterprise Led Development (ELD), is the way
forward for a young but “developing” country like ours, especially in the current economic climate.

The interactive visits on the journey gave the Yatri’s a rare opportunity to understand first hand, the personal stories behind the successful enterprises. These included Bunkar Roy’s Barefoot College, R. Elango’s rural transformation at Kuttambakkam, the remarkable McDonaldisation of cataract surgery at Aravinda Eyecare, each leaving
left a deep positive impact on the young Yatris.

Last year the Tata Jagriti Yatra was an unprecedented success. The diverse group of Yatris learned as much from each other as from the
inspiring role models we visited. Similarly, the journey was as much an exploration of India as it was a discovery of the self.

The impact of the Yatra will continue to be monitored closely but for each of our Yatris this has been a journey of "Once in lifetime" and
many are actively supporting the next Yatra. I would like to inform about Tata Jagriti Yatra 2009 launch and registration. The registration and application is free and there are sponsorships
available for deserving candidates that get selected. Please visit www.jagritiyatra.com for more details.

Don’t miss out this chance in a lifetime opportunity. To find out more please go to the website or feel free to call me to discuss my
personal experience in the Yatra in 2008.

The summary of the Tata Jagriti Yatra 2008 can be viewed at http://ping.fm/HcdEZ

In case of any queries please feel free to contact me.

Warm Regards,
Chandrasekhar.k
Ambassador
Tata Jagriti Yatra 2009
Web: www.jagritiyatra.com
Phone: + 91 9441166143

reBlog from rangde.org: The Official Rang De Blog

My blog entry on http://www.rangde.org/blog/:

The evenings of Saturday July 11 and Sunday July 12 saw the Rang De team at Globus T Nagar, Chennai with newly designed bookmarks (by Shayak of Cheese care), a big white banner, a new punching bag (painted by Diksha and Praveen) and other materials like sheets with the “Rang De Globus Quiz” and visiting cards.rangde.org, The Official Rang De Blog, Jul 2009

Please read the remaining and comment. Thanks