Meghalaya Cabinet clears amendments to tripartite agreement for BharatNet implementation

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma informed that in the agreement, there were some changes that the Department of Telecommunication (DOT) had asked the state government to work on and after detailed discussions, it was decided that the changes were necessary "to ensure speedy implementation of BharatNet Project".

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SHILLONG:

The Meghalaya Cabinet on Monday cleared amendments to a tripartite agreement for the implementation of BharatNet project in Meghalaya, which will aim to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to the rural parts of the state.

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma informed that in the agreement, there were some changes that the Department of Telecommunication (DOT) had asked the state government to work on and after detailed discussions, it was decided that the changes were necessary "to ensure speedy implementation of BharatNet Project".

The agreement was signed in 2013 between DOT, Meghalaya government's IT Department and Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) – the body responsible for implementation of BharatNet.

"It is done for general internet connectivity. This project was actually approved on May 16, 2013 and from that time, the project has seen a lot of challenges," Sangma told media persons after a cabinet meeting in Shillong today. 

"There were certain areas of issues and concerns and so the Government of India and BBNL decided to amend the agreement signed in 2013 to make certain things easier for the implementation of the project," he added. 

The CM said the departments and officials concerned have been directed to move at the earliest and during his last meeting, which took place about three weeks ago, it was indicated that the project would be completed between 18-24 months.

Stating that the performance and implementation of the project has been dismal in the state so far, Sangma said, "The percentage would not be more than 15 per cent. That is why we are pushing this project."

When asked about the delay in completing this project, the CM said, "Reasons could be many. I presume there is a lot of slackness or maybe not so much stress was given to this project. After we saw that the project was not going at the speed at which it should, we have been continuously pushing it."

Emphasising the need to improve network connectivity in the state, Sangma also informed that recently telecom service provider Airtel was awarded a project to set up 860 towers across the state.

(Edited by Ibankyntiew Mawrie)

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