NEW DELHI, March 22 ? The Assam Government today petitioned the Defence Ministry to review its policy and remove the restrictions on communication network, including cellular phone and Wireless on Local Loop (WLL) clamped on ground of security. The issues figure during a meeting between Defence Minister, George Fernandes and State Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, here this morning, at the South Block. The blanket ban on spread of communication network in the name of security ordered by the Army has cost the State as much as Rs 100 crore in equipments procured by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for installing WLL in the State Gogoi later told this correspondent.
Underling the need for the Defence Ministry to review its policy, the Chief Minister said even a request for an aerial survey of Guwahati city for undertaking development work was stopped by the Defence Ministry. The Chief Minister revealed that Assam Government had recently made a request to the National Remote Sensing Agency to take aerial photographs of the city, but the Ministry refused permission. The plan was to ensure better planning with the help of the aerial photographs, Gogoi said. The ban on cellular phone service also figured during the discussion, he said. It may be mentioned here that the issue had figured in Rajya Sabha during the Winter session, with the Communication Minister, Pramod Mahajan, asserting that the Cabinet Committee on Security needed to take a view on it.
The Minister?s contention was that after introduction of internet telephony scheduled sometime later this year, the ban on cellular phones currently in force in the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir would become redundant. Either the ban has to go or the internet facilities in the States have to be withdrawn, he had said. The ban on mobile phones and WLL has been imposed on the apprehension that they may be used by the insurgents.
Meanwhile, Gogoi urged the Defence Minister to increase the quota of recruitment in Assam and other north-eastern States. He suggested that the Army should hold special recruitment drives in the region. The Chief Minister?s suggestion for organising special programmes for the NCC in the region was favourably received. Such special programmes in the region would help in removing the sense of alienation among the youth, the Defence Minister was told. Gogoi further requested Fernandes to have the Army make local purchases in the State of the items which are locally available. Later, in the afternoon, Gogoi called on the Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Uma Bharti, and requested her to upgrade the Sub-Centre of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to a full-fledged regional centre. He also urged the Minister to set up sports complexes in the State to promote sports activities.