VELLORE: In a first-of-its kind, the district unit of the Communist Party of India has appealed through social media to boycott internet-usage for one day on October 31. The ‘digital- hartal’, is a protest against the indiscriminate hike in prices by internet service providers.
The district secretary of the CPI, A Narayanan said, the telecom companies have been increasing the rates of internet packages without reason. The government of India should step in to regulate the price structure to bring credibility to the government’s goal of reducing the digital gap and create smart cities.
Narayanan lamented that telecom operators had increased mobile Internet rates 100 per cent in the June-September period across the country. This has especially adversely affected smart phone users. The hartal is to vent anger against these telecom operators by boycotting the use of Internet on October 31, Narayanan said and added “Our party will extended full cooperation in the fight against telecom operators in the district. This is the first time, we have plunged ourselves on a digital platform.”
‘WhatsApp’ users seem to be at the forefront of this agitation. Its users are messaging each other of the need to be united and fight the internet price hike. Some college students said, “If the telecom companies keep hiking the rates of Internet packages, then we will have to stop using the Internet and not use any applications. We will also not recharge our data packs on that day.”
“We want to send a clear message to the operators that we are not addicted to Internet,” said Rajesh an engineering student.