No satirist could have plotted it better. The residents of Bandhapari village, in Odishaâs Kalahandi district, invited their MLA, BJD leader Pradeep Kumar Dishari, to inaugurate a telecom tower. Only, the tower was a rickety bamboo structure, bearing a banner that read âBSNL 4Gâ. This was the angry villagersâ way of protesting against the lack of response to their repeated requests for a mobile tower â the absence of which makes it necessary for them to travel 4 km to another village in order to make a simple phone call.
This is how Indiaâs dream of zooming down the digital highway to arrive at some kind of technological utopia, where people buy groceries using payment apps, run entire businesses on their devices and children learn in virtual classrooms, stumbles against reality. While the hardship faced by the residents of Bandhapari is particularly unfortunate, the frustration they feel over being denied what has become a basic necessity to live and work in the 21st century would be familiar to many. Indians may have access to all the latest smartphones that hit the market, but none of the hype that accompanies a new launch can offset the discomfort of dangling precariously on a window ledge or off balcony railings to catch a signal. Or trying to make the Hobsonâs choice between service providers who are technically different, but offer exactly the same patchy network connectivity and indifferent customer service (until one threatens to âportâ to a trade rival, in which case the red carpet of undivided attention and special offers is suddenly rolled out).
While Dishari said that he understood their frustrations, he couldnât do much, as clearance for a new tower would have to come from the Centre. As for the Bandhapari villagers, they have threatened to boycott all elections until their demands are met. Perhaps they are hoping that will send a message even clearer than the bamboo â4G mobile towerâ.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on January 7, 2022 under the title âNetwork unavailableâ.
