Times of India: Dehradun: Friday,
August 12, 2016.
An RTI
activist's tweet has done for 10,000 residents of Dudhali village, near
Dehradun, what numerous complaints could not. A tweet on the BSNL exchange
shutting down in the absence of a power back-up reached Union communication
minister Manoj Sinha, who ensured prompt action and the exchange coming back
to life.
"For the
villagers, it was a huge problem. We had no means of communication to use
during emergencies, especially the medical ones. The BSNL exchange had no power
back-up and there were no mobile network," RTI activist Ajay Kumar whose
tweet helped the villagers told TOI.
According to
villagers, every time it rained during the monsoon and there was a power
outage, their mobile phones would go without network for hours. On August 3,
Kumar tweeted about lack of power back-up at the BSNL exchange at Doiwala block
and problems it was causing to over 10,000 villagers and tagged the Union
communication minister with it.
"On
August 10, I received a reply from the BSNL chief general manager of
Uttarakhand circle stating that the non-functional battery at the BSNL exchange
had been fixed and was working well. The same day it rained heavily and there
was a power outage for hours, but our mobile phones did not show weak signals
even for once. We were greatly relieved," Kumar said.
The villagers
do not know much about the behind-the-scene story but are happy with the
change. Aslam Sadiq, a resident of Doiwala, said, "I have noted that our
phones do not lose network during power outages. It is good for all of
us."
Kumar, who is
very active on Twitter and other social media platforms, said, "I am a
great believer in the power of social media. One tweet has done what our
several attempts to reach out to BSNL official, scores of letters and personal
representations could not do in months."
Notably,
Kumar had ensured that his village was included in the PM's ambitious Digital
India initiative after he wrote him a letter in June. In his letter to PM
Narendra Modi, Kumar had demanded e-smart classes and e-libraries in the
schools, fibre network and internet connectivity all across the village. To his
surprise, Kumar received a quick response and was informed that his village,
Dudhali, near Dehradun, will be soon provided with internet facilities under
the PM's Digital India initiative which aims to connect rural areas with
high-speed internet networks.
Soon after
this, Kumar wrote to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal outlining the need to
teach about the Right to Information (RTI) Act to schoolchildren. Kejriwal
replied promptly to Kumar telling him that his suggestion had been noted and
the matter was being taken up with NCERT.
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