Lahaul Spiti: Imagine if for the first time a mobile phone rings in a village and the Prime Minister of the country calls and congratulates the villagers and inquires about the well-being of the villagers and chats them for about 15 minutes.
Locals at the Giu village of Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal were over the moon on Thursday April 18 where it actually happened. The village, which was alien to the mobile network connectivity so far, was linked to the communication network bringing cheer on the faces to the villagers.
A few months ago, a mobile tower was installed in the village and now the mobile network has also reached to the village. As soon as the network came to the village, PM Modi called a local teacher of the village named Dorje, who along with his nearby villagers talked with the PM for around 14 minutes.
The Prime Minister discussed the difficulties faced by the villagers due to lack of mobile network in the village which he came to know during his visit to the state on Diwali last year.
PM Modi had visited Kinnaur last year to celebrate Diwali during which the villagers had brought the lack of mobile connectivity to PM's notice. Villagers of Giu village said they had to travel about 7 to 8 kilometers away in search of network. The mobile tower installed in the village itself is expected to give the villagers a sigh of relief.
"Earlier, we had to go to Samdo, 8 kilometers away, for mobile network. We cannot believe that mobile network has come in our village. After your visit, the process of installation of mobile tower and land related process was completed in only 23 days," Dorje told the PM on phone.
The PM asked about the benefit of the arrival of mobile phone network to which Dorje said, "Now we will be able to give better information to our children, which can be obtained through the Internet. We will be able to easily communicate with our relatives who are away from home and local tourism will also be promoted."
It is noteworthy that Lahaul Spiti is one of the most inaccessible districts not only of Himachal but also of the country. During the snowfall season, this district used to be cut off from the country and the world for about six months of the year.
After the construction of Atal Tunnel, people have got a sigh of relief. Lack of mobile network, lack of mobile connectivity in remote areas like Giu made the life of villagers even more difficult. The PM said that after the BJP formed the government in 2014, the aim was to provide electricity and mobile phone network to every village.
