The inhabitants of Ekta Nagar, near Moga, in Punjab, destroyed a mobile tower.
Chandigarh:
More than 1,500 of Reliance Jio’s 9,000 telecommunications towers in Punjab have been taken out of service, allegedly by farmers protesting against farm laws, disrupting service in parts of the state. A representative of the telecommunications company told NDTV that the towers have been affected due to physical damage, power failure or theft of the generator.
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today issued a stern warning against the vandalism of mobile towers and the disruption of telecommunications services in the state, calling on the police to take strict action in such cases.
Over the past week, farmers have vented their anger against Reliance, disrupting power supplies, cutting telecommunication tower cables and damaging the infrastructure of the Mukesh Ambani-owned company, considered one of the main beneficiaries of the farm laws.
At Jalandhar, some bundles of Jio’s fiber cables were burned. Videos of Jio employees threatened and forced to flee have been widely disseminated.
The state police have not taken action against the perpetrators so far.
But today, the Chief Minister said that he would not allow Punjab to plunge into anarchy or tolerate the destruction of any private or public property. Noting that his government has neither opposed nor stopped the peaceful protests in the state, he said that damage to property or inconvenience to people will not be tolerated.
Singh also reminded farmers that such a communication breakdown will be costly for students, especially those preparing for board exams and professionals working from home due to the Covid outbreak. Even banking services, which now rely heavily on online transactions, are taking a big hit, he said.
Farmers have been losing patience as thousands wait at Delhi’s borders, demanding that the Center abolish farm laws, a demand the government is unwilling to comply with.
Several rounds of meetings have been held between the protesters and the Union Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar, and one with his cabinet colleague, the Union Minister of the Interior, Amit Shah.
But the deadlock has persisted, a situation the government hopes to resolve with another meeting on Wednesday.
The country’s cereal bowl farmers, Punjab and Haryana, have been highly upset about farm laws, which they fear would lead to the phasing out of guaranteed prices offered by the government and allow companies to exploit them.
The government’s repeated assurances that the laws would help them obtain better prices for their products and that the Minimum Support Prices will be maintained, have not been able to resolve their concerns.
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