Union Minister of Electronics &IT, Communications and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad has promised that the central government will provide connectivity in far-flung border areas of strategic importance to ensure better quality of life to the people as well as to those who are working in these areas.
He was speaking at the inauguration of a submarine Optical Fiber Cable of length of 2300 kms between Chennai and Andaman Nicobar at a cost of Rs.1,224 crores, by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Prasad said that a tender for 354 uncovered villages in the strategic, remote and border areas of the country has been finalised and is under implementation in 144 villages of the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and remaining villages in the States of Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other priority areas of Gujarat . These villages have been strategically chosen to cover border area connectivity on mobile. After commissioning of these villages, there will be no uncovered villages in UTs of J&K, Ladakh for mobile connectivity.
The Union Minister further told that Department of Telecommunications is also working on providing mobile connectivity in villages of 24 Aspirational districts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and remaining 44 Aspirational Districts for 7287 uncovered villages in Chhatisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh will also be covered for which government approval is under submission.