FAISALABAD, Sept 17: Hundreds of subscribers of the Faisalabad Telecommunication Region have been facing a great deal of inconvenience in getting their grievances redressed, as the entire PTCL field staff is busy making the free connection scheme successful.

The scheme was launched 17 days ago and ever since no official is available to redress grievances of subscribers. The subscribers said due to recent rains and storms, poles and cables of the PTCL had been damaged but the staff on duty was busy in getting applications and conducting surveys for the new telephone connections under the free connection scheme.

They said rehabilitation of roads by the Tehsil Municipal Administration (City) aggravated their problems, as the project had led to disconnection on a large scale. Requesting anonymity, a senior officer at the FTR complaint centre confirmed the reports about piling up of complaints of consumers about disconnections.

"We are trying our best to accomplish the task of providing free telephone connections to subscribers under the federal government scheme." He said some linesmen were working in the field, but were unable to redress grievances of over 10 million people in the region.

He claimed that the free connection scheme had been launched in those areas from where the PTCL had been receiving very negligible share of profit and recovery. The aim behind the project was to generate maximum funds and widen network of connections in these selected areas, he added.

A group of people intending to get free connections claimed that the campaign was an eyewash, as only some of the areas of the region had been selected where the FTR wanted to enhance its network of consumers.

"The people who are in line for the past so many years to get paid connections in scores of areas have again been asked to wait for some months." No relevant official of FTR was available for comments.

SUICIDE: A jobless youth committed suicide here at Makuana village on Friday. Reports said Irfan alias Judge was jobless for the last couple of years due to which his family was facing financial problems. He took poison and died after some time.