Himachal's Giu gets mobile network for 1st time, PM speaks to residents

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to residents of Giu village in Himachal Pradesh's Spiti after the area was connected to the mobile network for the first time.

In a more than 13-minute telephonic conversation with them, Modi spoke about his visit to the border region during Diwali and asserted that connecting the village with the mobile network will quicken the 'Digital India' campaign.

The government is now prioritising linking all places with the communication technology after meeting success with the electrification exercise, the prime minister said, noting that when he came to power more than 18,000 villages lacked electricity.

A villager told him that they could not believe it for a moment when they were told that the area will be connected to the mobile network and their happiness knew know no bounds when it finally happened.
 

They had to earlier travel for around eight kilometres to use their mobile-phones, he said.

Modi highlighted his government's efforts to boost development in border areas under the 'Vibrant Village Programme (VVP)', saying the earlier dispensations left these regions to their fate.

In his third term, he will focus on people's quality of life after prioritising their ease of living so far and this will immensely benefit remote regions, the poor and the middle class, Modi said.

The region will also benefit a lot from the 'One District One Product' programme, he added.