Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan addressing a joint meeting of officials from the state government, Telecommunication and Posts, on October 9.

Morung Express News 

Dimapur | October 9

Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan today said the central government and departments concerned are exploring and developing new technologies to overcome the connectivity challenges in the North East (NE).

Admitting that connectivity remains a major challenge in the NE due to geographical location and hilly terrains, the Union minister however assured that the Centre would spare no efforts to enhance telecommunication services in the North East.

Chauhan was addressing a joint meeting of state officials and representatives from the Department of Telecommunication and Posts at Police Complex, Chümoukedima.

Terming ‘Communication’ department as one of the oldest and also the youngest in terms of usage of new technologies, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision was to bring telecom connectivity to each and every village in the country.

“Although, the implementation has been delayed due to the pandemic, it is now expected the implementation will be expedited,” he said, adding that there are “no dearth of funds for improvement of Telecom Sector.” 

“I assure you that there will be increased coverage of Telecommunication network connectivity as well as increase funds for further Telecom development for the State of Nagaland,” the Union Minister maintained.

Stressing on the importance of connectivity in the world’s largest democracy and a nation that has more than 6 lakh villages, he said, “If connectivity reaches the last mile, democracy has reached the last mile.”

The Union minister of state lauded Nagaland state for being a “shining example” in terms of teledensity, which he said is the highest among the Northeastern states. Maintaining that the NE is “first priority of the Modi Government,” Chauhan further said that the main purpose of his visit was to know first-hand the connectivity challenges in the North East and how to overcome them.

Nagaland Advisor for Information Technology and Communication, New and Renewable Energy, and Science & Technology Mmhonlumo Kikon, who also addressed the meeting, said that after 2014 under Narendra Modi, things have changed as far as the relation between the Centre and North East states were concerned.

Kikon said under Modi, the visits of Union ministers to NE have become frequent and regular thereby reducing communication gaps between the Centre and NE states. This has also helped to accelerate the pace of development in the North East.

The IT&C advisor said access to internet connectivity, especially in rural and remote areas of Nagaland still remains a major challenge and stressed on the need to take telecommunication services to the next level.

Kikon also apprised the Union minister on the need for enhancement of telecom infrastructure including bandwidth in the state.

Earlier, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, IT&C and Power, KD Vizo, in his opening remark expressed optimism that with intervention of the Ministry of Telecommunication, Nagaland would soon become the IT hub of not only the North East but also South East Asia.