Published 18:20 IST, December 25th 2020
Punjab CM urges farmers not to disrupt state’s telecom services & inconvenience citizens
CM Amarinder Singh urged farmers "to show same discipline and sense of responsibility which they had been exercising during their protest at the Delhi border"
- India News
- 3 min read
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday appealed to agitating farmers not to inconvenience the general public while continuing to carry out their protests against the farm laws. This appeal by the chief minister comes in the context of reports of disconnection of power supply to various mobile towers across Punjab causing inconvenience to civilians at large.
Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA), a registered body of Telecom Infrastructure Providers had requested the state government to persuade the farmers not to resort to any unlawful activity during their agitation against the farm laws.
A statement from Punjab CMO quoting Amarinder Singh said that telecom connectivity has become even more critical for people amid the COVID pandemic and urged the farmers to show the same discipline and sense of responsibility which they had been exercising during their protest at the Delhi border, which has completed one month, and also earlier during their agitation in the state.
The Chief Minister said such actions were not in the interest of Punjab and its future while urging them not to take the law in their hands by forcibly shutting down telecom connectivity or manhandling employees/technicians of telecom service providers.
The CM said, "the people of Punjab, had been standing with the farmers in their fight against the black Farm Laws, and would continue to do so. I request the farmers to reciprocate by ensuring that the battle for justice does not cause any problems for the people of the state."
Impact of forceful disruption of mobile services
Apprising over the situation, the CM said that such forceful disruption of telecom services due to snapping of power supply to mobile towers by farmers is not only hampering the studies and future prospects of students who are dependent entirely on online education but also affecting people working from home due to the pandemic.
He urged the farmers to continue with their peaceful protests without causing any inconvenience to the citizens of Punjab as the action of disruption of telecom services "would also affect the state's already disturbed economy."
Elaborating on the adverse effect of such action, he said that it would also have an unfavourable impact on the agriculture sector and farmers community too. The chief minister pointed out that such actions would impact the government's efforts to attract more investment in the Telecom sector as part of its recently announced New Telecom Guidelines 2020.
Updated 18:20 IST, December 25th 2020
