HUBBALLI: All gram panchayats in the country will be provided with high speed internet facility (100 mbps) by the end of 2018, said Union Minister of State for Communication Manoj Sinha.
After releasing a commemorative postage stamp on Kumara Mahaswami of Hangal as a part of the seer’s 150th birth anniversary here on Friday, he said the Union government is committed to achieving ‘Digital India’ and the Ministry of Communication was pushing hard to make this dream a reality.
The BSNL will be installing Wi-Fi hotspots and special care will be taken to install such spots in Hubballi-Dharwad and north Karnataka region, said Sinha.
Sinha also announced a day train service between Hubballi and Mysuru and Hubballi and Varanasi. The service will be flagged off on May 23. He also promised that he would look into the matter of providing a new railway line between Hubballi and Mangaluru.
The minister said: “I am happy that I have released a commemorative postage stamp on Sri Kumaraswamiji. It is our tribute to the great soul that we have released the stamp in his land instead of Delhi. Normally, the release of stamps takes place in Delhi. But, the Modi government has decided it to make this celebration a special.”
He added that the swamiji’s contribution to the society and education field is remarkable. “His personality was greater than Mount Everest. He has left behind his achievements and people have to tread on the path which he showed to us. The swamji took part in the freedom struggle and he used to advise people to wear Khadi. He was the person responsible for setting up schools and colleges in this region,” said Sinha.
Kulkarni skips event again
District Minister Vinay Kulkarni, known for either attending late or not attending programmes and meetings organised by the district and state administration, did not turn up for the function organised to release a postal stamp in memory of Hangal Kumara Swamiji. The minister was chief guest at the event.