Poor tele services hit rural Odisha growth

While Odisha has 10 Maoist-hit districts, accounting for 33 per cent of geographical area of the State, these backward forest clad areas are crying for qualitative and reliable tele connectivity. Take the case of Malkangiri district, which is termed as a “Hot Bed of Maoists.”

Poor connectivity is a major problem there. In order to empower the people of the cut-off area in Malkangiri, the State Government has decided to provide ‘smartphones’ free of cost. However, absence of basic voice connectivity is coming on their way to use the mobile phones. Similarly, as per NITI Aayog, there are 10 backward districts in Odisha, which are notified as Aspirational Districts.

These districts too are facing poor mobile connectivity.And the coastal districts of the State are affected by frequent natural calamities like cyclone, flood and storms.