Data from the 5th NFHS survey indicates that while internet access is increasing, a significant digital divide remains as a result of issues such as gender gaps and rural-urban gaps. These inequalities are also borne out by other government statistics and our conversations with stakeholders.
Railwire seems to be arbitrarily blocking access to Reddit and DuckDuckGo. After Railwire subscribers sent us repeated reports on SaveTheInternet.in and also tagged us on social media we wrote to them today asking them to remove these blocks and follow the license conditions for ISPs.
11 months on from the Supreme Court's decision on internet shutdowns in the matter of Anuradha Bhasin v Union of India, there is still no compliance.
In our comments, we highlighted the need to revamp the policy and regulatory initiatives surrounding the broadband infrastructure in the country to ensure that every citizen has access to the internet irrespective of their geographical location or social and economic status.
We asked them to ensure that the BharatNet Project, which aims to provide fast internet connectivity to the whole country, is operationalised according to pre-existing timelines so that these issues can be resolved.
We wrote to Shri Kuldeep Rai Sharma, the Honourable Member of Parliament for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stating our concerns and urging him to escalate the matter with PMO and MeitY.