Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on Sundaylaunched a free Wi-Fi service at the Bhubaneswar railway station here and announced to provide such a facility at the Puri railway station before the upcoming Rath Yatra in July.
After the facility availed in the Mumbai Central in January, the Bhubaneswar station is the second in the country covered under Google’s free Wi-Fi project, Prabhu said.
The Minister said the high-speed internet service would benefit passengers as they can surf internet while waiting for trains. The ministry is committed to provide better internet facilities to the passengers at 100 busiest stations in the country by this year-end, he added.
Notably, the Google and the RailTel have collaborated to make Wi-Fi network available across 100 stations under the Digital India initiative.
Maintaining that the Narendra Modi Government has provided more allocation to Odisha in the Railway Budget, Prabhu said the State’s allocation stood at Rs6,000 crore in 2015-16 against Rs719 crore in 2012-13.
He also announced that steps would be taken soon to provide railway connectivity to all parts of the State.
The free Wi-Fi service would enable visitors and passengers to access internet through smart phones, tablets and laptops. It would benefit 1.4 lakh visitors daily at the Bhubaneswar station.
Among others, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, RailTel Corporation CMD RK Bahuguna, MPs Pyarimohan Mohapatra and Baishnab Parida, Railways Board Chairman AK Mittal and East Coast Railways GM Rajiv Vishnoi were present.
Mohapatra said the Central Government has changed the policy and is allocating much to the State. The free Wi-Fi service would benefit the young generation, he added.
He expressed unhappiness over absence of MP Dr Prasanna Kumar Patsani and some State Ministers and MlAs despite invitations.
“It doesn’t matter what politics the Chief Minister is playing here. I am sure people will be with you if such developmental programmes will continue in Odisha,” he said.
Congress activists led by senior leader Suresh Routray and Sibananda Ray showed black flags to the Minister and staged a demonstration in front of the ticket counter protesting shifting of the wagon factory from Narla in Kalahandi district to Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Shouting ‘Prabhu go back’ slogans, the activists demanded withdrawal of the shifting proposal. Police detained many protestors to bring the situation under control.