Centre committed to improve telecom connectivity in Northeast, says Devusinh Chauhan

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Oct. 9 (EMN): Union Minister of State for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan on Saturday said that the central government is giving top priority to improve telecommunication services in the Northeast (NE) region with the latest technologies and innovations.

The Union minister stated this in a meeting with Nagaland state officials, department of Telecommunication and Posts at Rhododendron Hall in Chümoukedima.

He said that in the NE region, connectivity is a challenge due to its geographical location, especially in hilly areas.

“If connectivity reaches the last mile, then understand that democracy has reached the last mile,” he said.

He shared that due to the pandemic, there has been a paradigm shift in the lifestyle of the people and ‘we need connectivity to work’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that the government would provide connectivity in more than 6 lakh villages of the country, but work has been delayed due to the pandemic, said Chauhan.

“And to provide connectivity, the Northeast region is on top priority because the Prime Minister has special interest in this region. To provide connectivity, we have new technologies and there is no problem for funds,” he stated.

Mmhonlumo Kikon, Advisor for Information Technology and Communication, New and Renewable Energy, Science and Technology, stated that the Union minister visiting the state ‘ensures that policy making is not just left to the Centre but there is an active interaction and communication between the Centre and state, enabling the facilitation of opinions, needs, assessments to be done at a personal level’.

He shared that telecom services have become crucial for providing transparency, speed in governance, security and the only means to overcome the obstacles of communication in the state.

He stated that due to the pandemic, there is a growing need for more bandwidth to support online activities. Besides catering to the increasing number of needs in the state, high internet speed is also needed for value-added services, he said.

Kikon further shared that during the pandemic, remote areas in the state had difficulty accessing internet.

“That was a challenge, and although the state can provide every support, telecom being directly under the Central ministry’s mandate, we request that the remote areas be connected at a faster pace,” he added.

He urged the minister to intervene pro-actively and visit the state again. He also asked the minister to ensure that the improvement of the telecom service in the state is taken on priority, especially in rural areas and also to increase the mobile and telecom services.