Farmers Protest: Mobile Internet Services Suspended In Seven Districts Of Haryana (image- screen grab/twitter/Randhawa_twt)
The Haryana government on Tuesday extended its suspension of mobile networks and bulk services till February 15 in seven districts of the state in view of the farmers “Delhi Chalo” agitation. The ban is introduced in districts of Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa, the government said in the order.
The mobile services were earlier suspended on February 11 morning till February 13. The order stated that individual SMS, voice calls, banking SMS, and internet services provided by broadband and lease lines of corporate and household are exempted from the shutdown in public interest.
On Tuesday, farmers from Punjab faced tear gases from Haryana police while trying to move forward to break past the barricades set up by the police to halt them from marching towards the national capital.
In the order, additional chief secretary of Haryana T V S N Prasad said that there is a clear potential for the disruption of public utilities, damage to public assets, and disturbance of public law and order in the listed districts on account of misuse of internet services by way of spread of inflammatory material and false rumors.
Farmers” protest | Mobile internet services, bulk SMS and all dongle services etc provided on mobile networks, except the voice calls in the jurisdiction of districts Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa of Haryana State to remain suspended till 15th… pic.twitter.com/rfzBISwzJj
— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2024
The order was issued under Section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Rule 2 of Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017.
All telecom services providers in Haryana have been directed to ensure compliance with the order.
The Samyuktha Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation to put pressure on the Centre for their listed demand. The demand includes a law on MSP, farm loan waiver, and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission.
After the clash with the police on Tuesday, the farmers blamed the centre for the “attack” on protestors marching towards Delhi and claimed that 60 of them were injured as police used tear gas shells at border points.
