Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Commissioner Siddaiah's austerity measures continue. After directing officials to stop buying bottled water and cutting down the number of official vehicles, he has now withdrawn 1,293 closed user group BSNL SIM cards.
According to highly placed sources, the BBMP had issued SIM cards to over 2,500 employees, including first division attendants, drivers and junior engineers. The civic authority was incurring an expenditure of Rs. 10.5 lakh a month towards phone bills.
“It has been noticed that several officials were misusing the facility. After Mr. Siddaiah took over, he had asked for information about the SIM cards issued and its usage,” sources said.
Sources added that by withdrawing the SIM cards, the BBMP is likely to save Rs. 6.5 lakh a month. Mr. Siddaiah reportedly took the decision to withdraw the SIM cards after a meeting with Special Commissioner K.R. Niranjan and officials of the administration department.
According to information available, the Commissioner has withdrawn as many as 184 SIM cards from Assistant Engineers, 183 each from Revenue Inspectors and Junior Health Inspectors, 175 from drivers, 163 from Tax Inspectors, 101 from Junior Engineers, 44 from Managers, 41 from Assessors, 33 from Account Superintendents. Mr. Siddaiah has also withdrawn the SIM card issued to the Administrator.
The officials have been directed to surrender their SIM cards by August 5 to the Assistant Engineer (Electrical – East zone).
