Published 14:38 IST, December 30th 2020
Reliance Jio writes to Punjab CM & DGP seeking action against vandalism of network sites
Reliance Jio Infocomm has written to Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and the DGP seeking their intervention into the "incidents of vandalism of Jio Network sites”
Reliance Jio Infocomm has written to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the Punjab DGP seeking their intervention into the "incidents of sabotage and vandalism of Jio Network sites” by unknown persons, amid the politics over the farm laws.
As the farmers’ stir continues in Punjab and Delhi over the Centre’s three agriculture reforms, more than 176 mobile signal transmitting sites have been vandalised by the protestors over the past few days. Amid growing outrage over the new farm laws, there is a perception among farmers due to politicians' fearmongering that industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani benefit from the reforms. Hence, the protesting farmers and their supporters displayed banners, calling for a boycott of Reliance Jio and other products.
Despite CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s repeated appeals to the farmers to not damage telecom infrastructure, such cases have been growing in the state, putting its law-and-order situation at risk. Protesting farmers across Punjab have reportedly damaged Reliance Jio towers, snapping connectivity. With growing incidents of cutting off power lines and the axing of towers, reports suggest that over a hundred towers are vandalised by protesters in the state every day. Bundles of Jio's fibre optic cable were burnt in Jalandhar while videos of Jio employees being threatened and made to flee are doing the rounds on social media.
A total of 1,561 mobile towers have been impacted in the state, according to an official statement. The state has a total of 21,306 mobile towers spread across its 22 districts. Since Monday morning, there was a disruption of power supply to 32 towers, which led to the disconnection of services of the remaining 114. So far, 433 towers have been repaired, according to the official statement.
Impact of forceful disruption of mobile services
Apprising the protestors over the situation, CM Captain Amarinder 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 14:38 IST, December 30th 2020