The parliamentary standing committee on post and telecommunications ministry on Sunday resented the minister's being absent from three consecutive meetings of the panel.
Terming the minister's attitude unfortunate, the committee said such indifference affected implementation of the committee's decision.
Lawmakers Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury and M Abdul Quddus raised question about the minister's absence and both of them said that if he continued to remain absent he should not be invited to the meeting any more, said the committee chief Hasanul Huq Inu.
Inu said when the performance of the telecommunications ministry was better than other ministries, the minister's continued absence was questioned by the committee members.
'The minister's presence is necessary to make the performance of the ministry more dynamic,' he added.
The 31st meeting of the committee discussed the production of laptop computers by Telephone Shilpa Shangstha and resented the delay in the launch of its 'Doyel' brand computers.
The members also said the ministry and TSS should explain what was causing the delay.
The meeting suggested that the Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited should realise all arrear telephone bills from different ministries and government organisations by December 2011.
'Various government agencies owe the BTCL about Tk 50 crore. It cannot be left unrealised. We suggested that the bills should be realised by December,' said Inu.
Inu said private users also owed the company Tk 400 crore and the committee had asked the ministry to submit a report on overall billing situation for private subscribers.
'We have asked for details, including for how long the bills of individuals or organisations remain unrealised and how many cases have been filed in this regard,' he said.
The committee also formed a sub-committee to probe fresh allegations that various companies were using voice-over internet protocol. Moazzem Hossain will head the committee. Other members are Nazrul Islam Babu and Golam Mostafa.
The meeting also discussed the proposed policy for setting up of transmission and receiver towers for mobile phone and internet.
The committee also laid stress on examining the level of radiation in telecom sector and asked the ministry to convene an inter-ministerial meeting with the environment ministry and experts concerned.
Whip ASM Feroz, Abdul Quddus, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Moazzem Hossain and Golam Mostafa attended the meeting.
Source : New Age
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