The government is putting together an action plan to expand telecom connectivity, intelligence sharing and local language outreach to people in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism<\/a>, ET has learnt. The Ministry of Home Affairs<\/a> has specifically asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting<\/a> as well as national broadcaster Prasar Bharati<\/a> to finalise the contours of the plan, people in the know of the matter told ET.
In a meeting with I&B officials last month, senior home ministry officials took stock of the existing telecom infrastructure to decide the way forward. They pointed out that it was very important to share infrastructure in difficult areas for “faster and efficient delivery of services,” official sources said.
At the meeting, it was also discussed that reaching out to the local population in LWE<\/a> areas in their own language was very important in perception management and that FM radio was an excellent mode for this. At present, only 38% of LWE affected areas have FM connectivity.
It was decided to leverage mobile towers under the Universal Service Obligation Fund<\/a> (USOF) — the Centre's programme to provide affordable mobile and digital services in rural India — and other BSNL<\/a> towers to enhance the reach of FM in villages and get the Department of Telecommunications to share a list of towers, both established as well as planned, with the I&B ministry.
Mobile towers in and around security camps were to be prioritised, the home ministry said at the meeting. The plan, it added, had to be expedited after meetings with officials from the power grid<\/a> and telecom.
Installation of towers in core LWE affected areas encounter various challenges like security and land acquisition. Therefore, sharing of tower infrastructure would ensure faster reach of radio in these areas, an official pointed out.
Possibilities such as installing AIR transmitters on towers under the USOF scheme, especially BSNL towers, were also explored. “It was pointed out that if required, BSNL can plan for taller towers in association with Prasar Bharati in areas that require higher capacity,” an official said.
At the meeting, it was pointed out that 2,343 mobile towers had been installed in LWE affected areas by USOF till recently and a further 6,854 towers are under installation.It was also observed at the meeting that all these towers were around 40 metres high and were better suited to cater to populations scattered across interior areas.
Prasar Bharati officials said 11 transmitters of 100 W were being installed in existing LPT (Low Power Transmission) towers of Doordarshan and were expected to be completed by December.
The MHA pointed out that 184 of the already installed towers and around 249 of the towers being installed under mobile connectivity in LWE affected areas were in security camps\/police stations or other secured public places.
As such, these towers could be considered on priority by PB, it told the national broadcaster.
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