The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): The Haryana government has announced an extension to the suspension of mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts for an additional two days, effective until February 17. This measure comes in response to the ongoing farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation. The affected districts include Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, and Sirsa.
Initially, on February 13, the state government had already extended these suspensions for a duration of two days. This decision followed incidents on Tuesday where Punjab farmers faced tear gas at two border points as they attempted to penetrate barricades erected by the Haryana Police to prevent their march to the national capital.
The agitation, led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, aims to exert pressure on the central government to meet their demands. These include the implementation of a law ensuring minimum support price for crops and the waiver of agricultural loans.
T V S N Prasad, the additional chief secretary of Haryana, stated that the current law and order situation remains critical and tense in the aforementioned districts. He expressed concerns over the potential misuse of internet services to disseminate inflammatory material, spread false rumors, and thus disrupt public utilities, damage public property, and disturb law and order.
The directive, invoking Section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 and Rule 2 of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules of 2017, mandates the continued suspension of mobile internet services, bulk SMS services (excluding those for banking and mobile recharge), and dongle services on mobile networks except for voice calls in the specified districts until the evening of February 17.
The extension is aimed at preventing any potential disturbances to peace and public order within these regions. Telecom service providers in Haryana have been instructed to ensure strict adherence to the government order.