Govt to develop telecom infrastructure in Naxal-hit areas: Sibal

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal today said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has already cleared a proposal to set up 2,199 mobile towers in  naxal affected zones, which currently do not have mobile coverage. 

Sibal said the telecom ministry had cleared a three-year old proposal at an expenditure of Rs3,046.12 crore to put up  2,199 towers spread across nine states - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

DoT has proposed installing towers in the Naxal-affected areas through state-run BSNL on nomination basis without floating any open tender by using the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

"We are committed to develop the infrastructure in naxal affected areas...DoT has cleared the proposal and it will now be sent to cabinet," Sibal told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.

He said  the ministry will seek cabinet approval to amend Indian Telegraph Rules for, which currently stipulates that USOF can be provided only to firms selected through a bidding process.

Sibal also launched a pilot e-Gov application store, which has been designed, developed and hosted by Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) through NIC.

At present, 20 applications are hosted on the store while 100 new applications will be put on it in three years.

There are three categories of applications on the Appstore which include free, paid and applications which are restricted for government use only, DeitY Secretary J Satyanarayana said.

The Appstore will be augmented to include applications and components developed by various departments and agencies at Centre, states and by private players, he added.

"The e-Gov Appstore will bring functional efficiencies in the government and enable citizens to receive services in a more streamlined manner. Inclusion of IT governance aims to reduce uncertainty and improve transparency," Sibal said.