Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has appealed to the farmers to maintain restraint.
In Punjab, farmers and their supporters, protesting against the agricultural laws of the central government, targeted the towers of Reliance Jio, the telecom company in the state. Due to this the company’s mobile and internet services were affected and consumers are facing inconvenience. According to industry sources, the agitators cut off the power supply of about 1,300 mobile towers of Jio in the state. Jio has around 9,000 mobile towers in Punjab. The agitating groups cut the fiber cables of some towers.
The farmers of the state are agitating against the new agricultural laws and they are demanding the repeal of the laws. In this sequence, the agitating groups also called for a boycott of the products of Reliance Industries and Adani Group. Industry sources say that if the farmers want to boycott the product and they do not buy the Jio SIM or want to leave the Jio connection, this is all right. This is the way of peaceful protest, but the loss of company assets cannot be a symbol of peaceful protest in any way.
Chief Minister appealed not to commit violence
According to the PTI report, on 25 December, the situation in Punjab had worsened. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also appealed to the farmers groups not to take such steps in the interest of common people. The Chief Minister appealed to maintain moderation like in the last few months and said that telecom connectivity has become even more important for the people during the COVID-19 epidemic.
The appeal was made on behalf of Amarinder Singh after a request from the registered Infrastructure Providers Association of Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA). The organization had said that the state government should explain to the farmers that they should not take any illegal step in their agitation against agricultural laws.
Punjab economy will be affected
He appealed that farmers do not take the law into their own hands by forcefully and illegally shutting down telecom connectivity or beating up employees and technicians of telecom services. The Chief Minister had said that such action is not in the interest of Punjab and its future.
Amarinder Singh said that by cutting the power supply of towers by farmers and forcefully disrupting telecom services, the students’ education will be affected. Also, in the epidemic, the daily work of those who are working from home will also be affected. In addition, the state’s economy already facing economic challenges will be adversely affected by disruptions of telecom services.
(FE Bureau)
