JHANG, Nov 5: As the local central telephone exchange is going digital, posting of a qualified engineer to run a rather complex system has become imperative.

With the closure of non-digital exchange, the total of converted numbers in the district has leapt to 1,300.

According to a source, the system was first introduced in Jhang some years back and BSc engineer Tahir Mushtaq was made the in charge of the system to handle a few hundred numbers.

Later, he was promoted to the rank of telegraph divisional engineer while a diploma holder assistant engineer, Malik Abdur Rahman, took over the charge.

The digital lines kept increasing and technical faults began to appear more frequently. Ill-equipped to handle the technicalities, the engineer reportedly failed to do justice the job demanded.

The system, the source said, remained in abeyance a couple of months ago and at one stage there was no work for at least six hours in a day.

A technician was penalized for the fault instead of removing the head.

Additional services of the PTCL like call waiting and pay phone card also suffered in the recent past due to inept attitude of the authorities.

According to the PTCL policy, a digital exchange having more than 10,000 numbers on the record requires a qualified engineer for its handling.

However, no change took place and reports of malpractice and deviation from criterion for allotting digital numbers to the subscribers having non-digital numbers were found. Attractive digital numbers were given to the favoured subscribers by the in charge of the department allegedly after accepting bribe, causing problems to the technical staff.

Quoting an example, the source continued that a non-digital number 2187, owned by a departmental store, was to be converted into 626187 according to the connection criterion but the subscriber was allotted a number 626262. Cases of similar nature could easily be traced out of a total of 825 converted numbers.

When contacted, digital exchange head Abdur Rahman said most of the numbers were allotted on the orders of the Faisalabad Telecom Region general manager.

Meanwhile, a number of local subscribers have lodged a complaint with the PTCL chairman and urged him to recruit some competent and honest engineer for the good of them.

DIES: District Bar Association former president Shaikh Maqsood Ahmad died of cardiac arrest here on Sunday.