India has installed 254 new 4G network towers and made them operational in 336 villages in Arunachal Pradesh, providing internet and broadband connectivity to at least 70,000 residents around villages near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Indian territory. The move is expected to boost the Indian army and security forces in the region, as well as the residents. Airtel, a private telecom operator, installed the towers, and the government telecom provider, BSNL, is also a part of the project to connect border villages near the LAC. The move comes even as China continues to expand infrastructure near the frontier regions of LAC.
The Villages Unconnected since Independence
These villages, it is being said, remained unconnected ever since India's independence. The government hopes for the re-population of such sparsely populated villages, which are often left by people due to migration to more connected and well-settled regions.
Boost for Indo-Tibetan Border Police
Deputy CM Chowna Mein said, “Our Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), soldiers at the border, army, border security force (BSF), and services selection board (SSB) will also benefit from it, it is historic. We have come far from those days, when we would only depend on subscriber trunk dialling (STD) lines and pray to get connected."
Efforts to connect every border village via 4G network;
Kiren Rijiju also said that the target is that in the next 6–7 months, every border village in Arunachal Pradesh will be connected via a 4G network. "1156 locations have been surveyed. The locations of unconnected villages, which are to be connected, have been identified,” he said.
Frontier Highway Approval
“Arunachal's Frontier highway approval will be the most difficult, but also the most historic roadway in the country, at a cost of 40,000 crore, which is more than the state budget," said Kiren Rijiju. According to the prime minister's vision for 2047, the border area will also have a great contribution,” said Kiren Rijiju.
Boost for Modi Government
Speaking to India Today, the union law minister said, “The work on the frontier highway began only after 2014 because it needs political willpower, which only the Modi government can bring. There was a time in 2004, when we used to keep talking about the project. But the government at that time didn’t want to ever sanction the project, and all they wanted was to have mules and bullock carts, (khacchar and bael gaadi) for transport in the northeast.”
