Dt: 15/3/19
My experiences with the “Financial Advisors” in the Department of Telecoms
Dr T H Chowdary*
When I was General Manager Telecoms of Andhra Pradesh ( 1978-‘83), in order to render true and prompt service, I equipped every Junior Engineer with a motor cycle and every Sub- divisional engineer with a 4 wheeler (Jeep or Van) . Usually sanction for such provision and purchase of the vehicles is to be obtained from the Telecom Directorate in the Ministry in Delhi. I did nothing of this sort. When the Finance Officer in my office advised me to get Directorate approval, I told him I would first purchase the vehicles and he can inform the Directorate that I took this decision on my own .
2. In 1983 July I moved to the Head Quarters in Delhi as Dy Director General in -charge of Telephoen services in the entire country. I prepared a note that the junior engineers and Sub -division officers and Divisional Engineers all over the country in -charge of maintenance should be equipped with motor cycles / 2 and 4-wheelers . I got the approval of the Members of the Telecom board concerned and then issued the order to the General Managers in the field. I sent a Note to the Finance, which was headed by a postal officer (Sri Devarajan) in the rank of Member Finance. A DDG (Finance) under him also from the Postal Department . None of them are any accounts or finance experts. The Postal Department itself did not want these people as their Financial Advisors and Member Finance. They got accounts /finance
officers from the Government of India on deputation. When my note for equipping the field officers went to the DDG Finance , a postal officer he wrote , “will not 3- wheelers instead of 4- wheelers do to SDOs and Divisional Engineers” I returned the note with the remark , “ one wheelers would be cheaper than the 3 –wheelers. Should we try to get such vehicles ? ” The officer took offence to what I wrote ,when he spoke to me, I told him firmly, “why do we require the financial advisor and that too from a postal officer just to know that 3 -wheelers cheaper than 4- wheelers? He went silent and I had my way. This is the type of “finance advice” coming from persons who are in the postal department but managed to fill up posts in the Finance Ranks of the DOT.
3. There was another, similar encounter of mine, with “finance experts” drawn from the postal services. When I was Chairman & Managing Director of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) I sent a proposal regarding acquisition of satellite capacity and investment in an International Satellite Corporation . The Member Finance of the DOT who had no background of finance but is simply a postal service man, wrote to me that the proposal would be discussed and that I should send Director Fiancé of VSNL to him. As CMD of the VSNL I went to him to discuss my proposal. He said , “ this is a financial matter you should send the Director of Finance of your company for this purpose.” I told him you ask any question about the proposal, I will answer. He said, “you are an engineer . How can you answer financial issues. I shot back, “you are a post man. What do you know about finance. It is the misfortune of the telecom engineers in the DOT that they had accepted you a post man as a Member Finance of the Telecom Board . The postal board did not think that you are fit as advisor for them on finance. They got a real career finance man from the finance dept of the government as their advisor. He had no answer . He did not ask any question. He simply accepted my proposal and sent it to the ministry for acceptance.
4. When (1969-’71) I was DDG Bombay Telephones, for the first time in the history of the department I undertook a project to construct underground duct way in Bombay for placing telephone cables in ducts. The earlier practice was repeatedly dig trenches and lay cables underground . While doing so, the existing ones would get punctured but this fact would come to light only when in the monsoon, water enters the cables and the telephone services are disrupted for weeks on end . Further, every time we trench to lay cables, we have to pay very heavy sums to the Municipality for so called reinstatement of the trenches to make them good as carriage way or pavement. To avoid the repeated cost and disruption in service, once for all a cable duct with upto 12 duct in a nest was planned by me. This means a heavy investment to avoid future costs of repeated digging, reinstatement and repair of damaged cables and interrupted service with consequent loss of revenue.
5. When the project was sent to the Directorate for sanction, the Finance section with a postal officer holding that post was asking me to give financial justification what would be the revenue you get etc . I told him you are just a postal officer and you have experience with carriage and delivery of post. How are you an expert in finance? You are asking me to justify . Do you understand what a cable duct is and what it is meant for and that it is the standard practice in all cities in many countries in the world. I picked the file from him, went to the Engineer Member and asked him to approve and sanction should be conveyed, marking he file only “for information” to the finance section . It was done. (950 words)
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