Villages In Uttarakhand Along Nepal Border To Be Equipped With Satellite Phones

Villages in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district along the China and Nepal border with poor telephonic connectivity are set to be equipped with satellite phones for use of villagers who presently have to depend on Nepalese SIM cards for communication needs, reports Times of India.

The phones have been provided by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to the district administration which has decided to provide the same to a total of 49 Gram Pradhans. The move is likely to come as a major connectivity boost for the area which has recently seen rising instances of Nepalese aggression by way of asserting a claim on Indian territories.

The areas have very poor telephonic connectivity as even the state-owned BSNL has no major tower infrastructure setup in the region due to its tough terrain.

However, it should be noted that the usage of the phones has been charged exorbitantly, with call charges for both incoming and outgoing calls and also for sending one SMS have been set at steep Rs 260 per minute or per SMS. The amounts may act as a deterrent for the poor villagers. Thus, Gram Pradhan Hayat Singh has called on Chief Minister (CM) Trivendra Singh Rawat to keep the cost for outgoing calls to Rs 2 while making incoming calls free.