BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Centre had set an ambitious target to cover all 5,770 uncovered villages with mobile and internet connectivity by the end of 2023, hundreds of villages still remain unconnected as telecom infrastructure is yet to be readied due to delay in land allotment.
Sources said only around 30 per cent of the uncovered villages, located mostly in Left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected and aspirational districts, have been provided with 4G internet connectivity.
The state government is yet to provide land in at least 450 villages of 15 districts.
Of the 7,287 uncovered villages under 44 aspirational districts in five states, Odisha tops the chart with the highest 3,933 villages, followed by 1,218 in Andhra Pradesh, 827 in Jharkhand, 699 in Chhattisgarh and 610 in Maharashtra.
The Centre had launched the universal service obligation fund (USOF) in 2011 to provide mobile services in these uncovered villages with an aim to bridge the digital divide in remote areas. As per the mandate, the state government had to provide land free of cost for installation of mobile towers by the telecom operators funded by USOF.
While two operators - Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) and BSNL have been tagged with the uncovered villages under Digital Bharat Nidhi initiative, installation of towers has been marred due to delay in land allotment.
The main challenges include forest land, lack of road access and requirement of alternative land. In at least 60 villages in nine districts, land allocated for telecom towers falls within forest areas, requiring environmental clearances.
Similarly, 307 villages in 14 districts do not have road access and alternative land is required in 10 villages of five districts. While some villages identified in government records are not traceable on the ground, in other cases, entire communities have migrated, raising questions about the feasibility of setting up infrastructure in deserted areas.
“Surprisingly, eight villages in four districts are not traceable. These villages include four in Kandhamal, two in Gajapati and one each in Malkangiri and Rayagada. One Kumpadar village in Kalahandi has been found to have submerged in a dam. Survey is pending in 168 villages due to several factors. People in 14 villages of three districts have migrated to other places,” said an telecom department official.
Meanwhile, Union minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia has urged Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to issue instructions to the departments concerned to ensure timely resolution of these challenges for speeding up installation of telecom towers.