Rural UP villagers protest two-month network outage affecting education and emergencies

Mobile users in Shravasti district of Uttar Pradesh staged a protest on Saturday against prolonged network outages that have crippled communication in several rural areas for nearly two months. Residents gathered near mobile towers in Jaita Jankinagar village under Jamunaha tehsil, demanding immediate action from the district administration to resolve the connectivity crisis.

The Jio and Idea (Bharti Airtel) towers located in Jaita Jankinagar have been experiencing network failures for approximately two months, affecting dozens of villages within a one-kilometer radius. Villagers from gram panchayats including Chaneni, Chamarpurwa, and Malhi Chauraha have been facing severe disruption in mobile services despite paying for expensive recharge plans. Users reported frequent call drops, complete internet failure, and voice disconnection during conversations.

The network breakdown has impacted daily life across multiple fronts. Students are unable to access online education, while residents struggle to call ambulances or contact family members during emergencies. Despite telecom companies Airtel, Jio, and BSNL aggressively promoting their 4G and 5G services and attracting numerous customers with attractive offers, ground-level service delivery remains poor, leaving subscribers frustrated.

The protesters, led by residents including Tufail Ahmad, Sabit Ram, Saifu Khan, and dozens of others, submitted their grievances to District Magistrate Annapurna Garg. They demanded a technical inspection of the malfunctioning towers and a permanent solution to the network problem. The demonstration highlights growing discontent in rural India where telecom infrastructure continues to lag behind the industry's ambitious claims, leaving consumers stranded without basic connectivity despite the digital push in the country.