STD Facility

STD Facility

Long ago telephone facility was a luxury. I had to wait 3 years to get a phone connection. Application for phone connection contains ridiculous questions like your nearest telephone connection and the telephone number of your neighbour etc. I had recently shifted to that area and my neighbour was reluctant to give his telephone number thinking that it may become a permanent nuisance. I have to give an undertaking to my neighbour that I will not come to his house for making telephone or receiving telephone calls except in dire emergency like serious illness or death of a close relative. One of my friends staying in another area was a victim of neighbors’ cruelty as most of the calls he get were not for him or his family members.

After getting the connection, I applied for STD facility as I have to make calls to my parents and relatives. In the home town we got connection without much hassle as it was under Senior Citizens quota and also I could send a recommendation from the Ministry of Defence where one of my friends was a PS to a senior officer. When I took the application along with last telephone bill and my identity proof, the person in charge asked me to get a photocopy of the bill duly certified by a Gazatted Officer. I did not understand the logic for a Gazatted officer’s certification on my request for the STD facility. However, in India rules and logic are poles apart especially in those times. General attitude of most of the Government staff was how to create hurdles & impediments and not how to help the citizens. These irrational, illogical and cumbersome rules and procedures were one of the predominant reasons for our slow progress. A country like Singapore which attained independence 10 years after India’s independence is at least 50 or 100 years ahead of us.

During those days people queue up at the STD booth to make phone calls. There were different rates for different periods. Cheapest rate was from 11 PM to 6 AM. Since STD rates were very high, it made lot of difference in various timings. STD booth was a lucrative business with minimum investment and maximum returns especially to those who are expert in tampering. . On many days I had to return at midnight without making a phone call as either the call did not materialize or I was still standing in the queue. Subsequently I started going in the early morning, when the rush was very less. My habit of waking up in the early morning helped me.  

STD charges were very high in those days. If I had made one hour STD call to Kerala, it would have drained ¼ to ½ of my salary depending on the time of phone call. In Government offices STD facilities were available to officers of the rank of Joint Secretaries and above. No records were available to show as to how many people were actually having STD. Phone instrument is always locked with special phone lock available in selected markets. Personal secretaries were the much sought after people as they could secretly help their friends and colleagues to make STD call in emergency. ISD facility was a rarity