(a) the number of public grievances cells set-up in the country to make the telephone service more efficient, State-wise;
(b) whether there is any proposal before the Government for setting up of public grievances cells in rural areas;
(c) if so, the details thereof; and
(d) if not, the reasons therefor?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI TAPAN SIKDAR)
(a) A total number of 432 Public Grievances Cells were working in the country as in Dec., 2001. State-wise List is attached at Annexure
(b) to (d): Grievances in rural areas are already being attended by Public Grievance Cells working in Telecom Circle Headquarter and Secondary Switching Area level. Presently, there is no proposal to set up Public Grievance Cells in rural areas. Recently, a toll free telephone number 1094 has been opened in all Public Grievance Cells of Telecom Circles which is accessible from all the telephones in rural as well as urban areas in the Telecom Circle for registration of grievances by the Public.
ANNEXURE
Sl. No. Name of Circle No. of PG Cells Statewise breakup No. of PG Cells
1. Andaman &Nicobar 1
2. Andhra Pradesh 23
3. Assam 8
4. Bihar 19
5. Chattisgarh 7 6. Gujarat 18
7 Haryana 10
8. Himachal Pradesh 7
9. Jammu & Kashmir 1 10. Jharkhand 7 11. Karnataka 20 12. Kerala 11 13. Madhya Pradesh 37 14. Maharashtra 30 Maharashtra 29 Goa 1 15. NE-I 3 Meghalaya 2 Mizoram 0 Tripura 1 16. NE-II 4 Manipur 1 Nagaland 2 Arunachal 1 17. Orissa 70 18. Punjab 12 Punjab 11 Chandigarh 1 19. Rajasthan 25 20. Tamil Nadu 27 Tamilnadu 26 Pondicherry 1 21. U.P (E) 36 22. U.P (W) 17 23. Uttranchal 1 24. West Bengal 15 West Bengal 14 Sikkim 1 25. Kolkata 1 26. Chennai 1 27. Delhi 11 28. Mumbai 10 Grand Total 432
Note 1. Total for Tamilnadu State = 27
(TN Circle = 26, Chennai Telephones = 1)
Note 2. Total for West Bengal State = 15
(West Bengal Circle = 14, Kolkata Telephones = 1)