CM launches free Wi-Fi services

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 28

Chief Minister Harish Rawat launched free Wi-Fi service here today. The free of cost service is available to everyone along the Mall Road. The service can be used for half an hour, following which it stops automatically and the user needs to renew it again for further usage.

A similar service was launched in Nainital as well in September.

The BJP has termed it a wastage of public money as Reliance Jio is already there with “better” services. The government’s Wi-Fi service would benefit people only around Mall Road, the BJP said.

MLA Ganesh Joshi, in a statement issued here today, said the free Wi-Fi service was nothing, but a scam worth Rs 60 crore wherein Harish Rawat wanted to “benefit his close aides”. He said Reliance Jio has been running the similar service for the past one year, so there was no use of starting another service to “waste public money”. Joshi said he had come to know through his sources that the state government had bought BSNL bandwidth for three months at the cost of Rs 5 lakh.

The Chief Minister refuted the allegations. He said one could not rely too much on private service so the government came up with the facility. He said the state government was trying to expand the Dev Bhoomi Sewa Kendra being run in the state. “Directions have been given to Secretary, Information and Technology, to provide the Dev Bhoomi Sewa Kendras for business purpose to Baba Ramdev on a condition that he will assist the government in expansion of Dev Bhoomi Sewa Kendra project in future. The government is trying to extend its internet connectivity by planning to take the optical fibre overhead through electricity poles to remote areas of the state, he said.

All religious shrines in the state would be linked with the Wi-Fi service soon, he said. Rawat also announced to upgrade the Municipal Councils of Mussoorie, Nainital, Srinagar and other cities to Municipal Corporations soon. Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola was also present.