18 SEPTEMBER 2015: Govt installs 795 mobile towers in Maoist areas

Ø  In the past three months, 795 mobile-phone towers have been set up in the Maoist-affected districts of the country, known as the Red Corridor. The plan to provide a channel of communication in these remote areas has taken off after remaining on paper for the past five years. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government aims to erode the influence of Maoists with connectivity and a faster mode of communication. There is a glitch though. These towers can handle only 20 calls at a time and data services are a distant reality. Mobile-phone connectivity is one of many development projects being taken up in the Maoist-affected States. Officials involved in the project said the presence of Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and in the States had helped. Chhattisgarh, a BJP-ruled State, the worst affected by Maoist activities, has installed 465 of the 497 towers proposed. They are being put up in the vicinity of security camps of the Central armed police forces and local police stations. The Central Reserve Police Force, the single largest Central force deployed in the States affected by Left-wing extremism, has been asked to install 170 mobile towers in its camps. Of these camps, the process for installation has been initiated on 107 sites, and 49 are fully functional. Though Jharkhand is a BJP-ruled State, only 175 of the 782 proposed towers have been installed in the State.