SHILLONG: At a time when the NDA Government at the Centre is envisaging the idea of a ‘Digital India’, rural areas of Meghalaya, especially those in proximity with the international border with Bangladesh, lack even basic facilities like mobile connectivity.
And while people in Shillong and other district headquarters of the State enjoy comparatively better services than their rural counterparts, their position certainly is not enviable when one looks at it from a wider perspective.
Aradonga, a village in West Khasi Hills bordering Assam is one area where people get mobile network “only by chance”.
“Aradonga is an interior village and this is probably the reason why mobile companies are least bothered,” said an observer.
In addition, there are scores of other far flung villages in the State where cellular connectivity eludes the residents more often than not.
Poor cellular connectivity in several parts of the State continues to bring endless inconvenience to the residents of such areas and another example of such apathy is Ranikor in West Khasi Hills where villagers of the far flung border area complained that barring BSNL, no other service provider has ventured into the area which is well covered by Bangladeshi telecommunication companies like BD Link and Grameen phone.
Last year, Union Minister for Telecom and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad had said that the Centre, under the comprehensive plan will expand mobile network in remote parts of North East including Meghalaya considering the security of the region encircled by foreign countries barring a narrow corridor.
The Centre had also recently announced a comprehensive Rs. 5,336.18 crore mega Telecom Development Plan for NE. Even, late Purno Sangma had demanded special attention to the region by attaching a list of 100 villages under Tura LS constituency which need urgent mobile connections.
