Mobile connectivity still a distant dream for 38,901 villages in India
At a time when the government has launched 5G mobile services to accomplish the Digital India mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there are 38,901 villages in the country where mobile connectivity is still a distant dream. In a written reply to a question asked by Congress MP Anumula Revanth Reddy, who represents Malkajgiri (Telangana) parliamentary constituency, Union Minister of State for Telecommunications Devusinh Chauhan said that out of 6,44,131 villages in the country, around 6,05,230 villages have mobile connectivity and 38,901 villages do not have any mobile coverage.
The details of villages having no mobile connectivity is based on the data received from Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and Department of Telecom’s field units as well as state governments as of March 2022. However, Chauhan, who hails from Gujarat, stated in his reply to the Lok Sabha that out of 18,425 villages, 567 villages have no mobile connectivity.
In Odisha, which is the cadre state of Union Minister for Telecommunications Ashwini Vaishnaw, out of total 51,176 villages, 6,592 villages are still without any mobile connectivity, while in Rajasthan — the home state of Vaishnaw — is having 3,316 unconnected villages out of total 46,077 villages in the Congress-ruled state.
In case of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, there is no mobile connectivity in 261 villages out of total 559 villages as per the Registrar General of India as of November 2019.
“The reasons for not having mobile coverage in these villages include, inter-alia, remote and tough terrain, areas diversely located with scattered population and commercially non-viable operations. The government through funding from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is implementing various schemes for providing mobile coverage in remaining uncovered villages of the country,” he said in his reply. However, the minister, in his reply, has claimed that as on date, Wi-Fi access points have been installed in 1,04,664 gram panchayats.
The operationability/availability of Wi-Fi hotspot depends on multiple factors like availability of internet bandwidth, power, etc, he said.
As per the details provided by the minister in his reply, in Andhra Pradesh, there is no mobile connectivity in 2,971 villages out of total 17,328 villages, which means 17 percent of state’s villages are not covered with mobile connectivity.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the condition of mobile connectivity is alarming as 51 percent of the state’s villages have no mobile connectivity. As per the ministry’s reply, residents of 3,081 out of 5,993 villages in the Northeastern state are not connected through mobile. Of the 26,429 villages in Assam, 2,083 have no mobile connectivity.
Among all, the national capital Delhi is the only state, which has 100 percent mobile connectivity as all 55 villages of the national capital have mobile coverage.
In Bihar, residents of 254 villages (out of 44,888) are still waiting for mobile connection, while 1,887 (out of 20,072) villages are not connected in Chhattisgarh and out of 392 there are 41 unconnected villages in Goa. In Himachal Pradesh, 1,482 villages are not connected as the state has total 20,852 villages, Jammu and Kashmir has 822 unconnected villages, while Jharkhand has 2,072 such villages and Karnataka has 1,121 such unconnected villages.
