The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reiterates its commitment to the development of tribal communities on the occasion of ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ being celebrated on 15.11.2022. DoT is providing telecom connectivity to the Tribal population in the Country.. The Department has several schemes that have been providing telecom infrastructure and connectivity in areas having a sizable tribal population.
2343 mobile towers have been installed in such areas in States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal under Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-I scheme. Another 2542 mobile towers are being installed under LWE-II scheme.
Under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for the North-Eastern Region i.e. for uncovered Villages in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, mobile connectivity is being provided by installing 1358 towers. In addition, 20 Gbps International bandwidth for Internet connectivity to Agartala from Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), Bangladesh via Cox Bazar/Kuakata has been commissioned.
Under Aspirational Districts Scheme, DoT plans to connect 7789 new villages.
Under the saturation scheme for providing 4G Mobile Services in 24680 uncovered villages, many of which are in remote, rural and far flung areas, a project is being executed by BSNL and slated to be completed by December, 2023.
All these schemes will benefit the large tribal population residing in the project areas.