Students in Ladakh's Chushul constituency urge govt to install 4G towers for access to online education
Students in Ladakh's Chushul constituency have urged the government to install 4G internet towers in the region for enabling access to online education. Residents of the constituency also expressed apprehensions as they were not able to register online for COVID-19 vaccination.
According to Konchok Stanzin, the councillor of the local Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Leh) of Chushul, VSAT network was installed to digitally connect all panchayats in 2019, but it works for only 8-10 people. "There's trouble accessing internet if more people connect. Army, ITBP deployed here connect to the same WiFi source as students and villagers do. Residents keep asking me to set up 4G mobile towers in the region, mainly so that there's no hindrance in students' education," Stanzin elaborated.
"Also, we are not even able to register for online COVID vaccination because of internet issues. The slot for vaccination gets exhausted within minutes. So, I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ladakh LG RK Mathur to consider our plea and install mobile towers in border villages here," the councillor said.
The villages awaiting help include Phobrang Yourgo, Lukung, Spangmik, Maan, Merak, Khakted, Chushul, Bharma, Kherapullu, Satoo, and Chibra.
Meanwhile, students too voiced their concern over being unable to take classes online. Some said they had to travel several kilometers for internet access but to little or no avail.
"Because of COVID-19 pandemic, our classes are scheduled online as schools are closed. However, we have not been able to attend online classes due to internet issues here in Phobrang. I request govt to help enable us internet access so that we too can study like other children," Kunsal Zangmo, a Class 4 student said.
"We don't have 4G facilities in our village so we come to panchayat ghar to access Wifi. But there's rush here so we aren't able to attend online classes. We are often marked absent, we get reprimanded by teachers." Class 7 student Jigmat Stobdan said.
"I travel 5-6km to attend online classes here. However there are issues in accessing internet as Wifi disconnects," Class 8 student Tsewang Namgyal said.
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