Hyderabad: The 160-year-old telegraph service will deliver its last batch of messages on Sunday after having been an integral part of communication for decades.
BSNL chief general manager Srinivasan and C.S.N. Murthy, the senior manager (operations) AP Circle, informed that the service will end on Sunday by 8 pm at all the customer service centres. However, the telegrams that have already been sent telegrams will be delivered till July 15.
Currently, 615 telegrams (costing about Rs 50 each) are delivered every day across the state, generating a revenue of Rs 8 lakh per month. The telegram transmitting machines, which have reached their maximum usage limit, “will be depreciated,” said Srinivasan.
The state has two Central Telegraph Offices, one each in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Every district has a customer service centre and every taluk an exchange office which had been receiving and distributing these telegrams through the postal service.
Now these employees would be deployed in BSNL’s customer service centres, call centres and exchange offices, Srinivasan said.
Lawyers and army personnel are upset at the termination of the service for it was the official mode of communication for them for years, the telegram being registered under the Indian Evidences Act and being known for its credibility when presented in court. Despite the advent of the Internet, there have been many cases of misinformation and there is no assurance of receipt of an email.
Founder of Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell, Thakur Rajkumar Singh said the government ought to now consider the SMS as a valid piece of evidence while C. Narender, lawyer, said that there would have to be an alternative medium of communication found for their purpose henceforth.
