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Journalism of Courage
SRINAGAR, JAN 6: Jammu and Kashmir took its big first step towards global connectivity with Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah inaugurating the first Software Technology Park in the state at Rangreth near here today.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Information Technology Pramod Mahajan said that the ban on mobile phones in the state imposed due to fears that it would aid militancy, would be lifted soon. “I was told mobile phones can give rise to militancy. A ban was imposed on such phones but militancy continues to grow,” he said. “If we could contain militancy by banning them, we should have eliminated it by now,” Mahajan said.
He said he had discussed lifting the ban with the Prime Minister and it will be sorted out shortly after a meeting with the Defence Ministry. “It is the best weapon to fight militancy,” he said.
Mahajan said the IT park will help counter separatist propaganda on Kashmir. “We want Kashmir to become an IT showcase. People across the world should know the real situation in Kashmir,” he said. All blocks in the state will be connected in the next two years, he added.
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Omar Abdullah, state Minister for Industries and Commerce Dr Mustafa Kamal, Software Technology Parks of India Director General S.N. Jindal, and other top officals were also present at the ceremony.
The Rs 9-crore park will provide basic infrastructural facility for highspeed data communication and act as a gateway to global connectivity, in the process helping promote cyber media in the state.
Situated in the SIDCO Electronic Complex on 7.5 acres, initially the park can provide connectivity to 104 software development and other IT-enabled service units.
Besides, providing employment to 2000 skilled persons, it will provide microwave linkage to software units to integrate them with the international information gateway.
Other facilities available in the park include central computing, uninterrupted power supply, centralized conferencing, telephone, fax, e-mail, and banking facilities.
