After braving the crisis period in the early phase of demonetization successfully, bank officials are now worried about awful Internet connectivity in the State that may prove to be a spoilsport in making ‘Cashless Jharkhand’ campaign of the State Government a grand success. The Government, however, claims to have taken adequate steps to ensure better connectivity even in the remote areas.
“We have already proved our ability in the last 45 days, but now the ball is in the court of telecom companies whose inability to provide proper Internet connection in the rural areas may prove disastrous in the cashless campaign,” said Field General Manager of Allahabad Bank Parthodeb Dutta. The telecom companies who have not still been able to provide good connectivity in the remote areas posing a big hurdle in making this state cashless, he added.
“I have visited several villages and small districts where Internet connectivity is so bad that people are not able to download even 7-8 MB Apps on their mobile phones,” said Dutta. Now the ball is in their court as people need connectivity in running their Apps and gadgets, already provided by the banks, he said. Government must ensure that good connectivity is provided to the masses in the distant remote areas also, he added.
Claiming that there was no cash crisis and the situation has completely become normal, Union Bank of India (UBI) DGM Tapan Chakraborty also said that it was now duty of the telecom companies to ensure good connectivity so that people could carry on hassle free cashless transactions in the State.
“Mobile network in Jharkhand is very poor as compared to the other states, hence it is important to make them work efficiently in order to make whole demonetization process successful,” said Chakraborty.
The UBI DGM further claimed that they were fully prepared for any kind of last moment rush for depositing their money by the customers. He however, said that they did not apprehend any last moment rush as most of the old currency has already been deposited.
The State Government, on the other hand, claimed to have taken several measures to improve Internet connectivity both in the urban and rural areas.
“Firstly, we have requested telecom companies operating in the state to improve their networks all over the state and secondly, Wi-Fi system is being installed on more than 700 mobile towers located in the left wing affected areas involving Rs35 crore to increase the coverage of mobile networks. The project will get completed very soon removing the problem of connectivity in the darker areas,” said Development Commissioner cum Addditional Chief Secretary Finance and Planning Amit Khare.