Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s Secretary Anshu Prakash Tuesday rewrote to the chief secretaries of states and administrators of Union Territories to ensure essential telecom services in their states remain unaffected by the ongoing lockdown. “Instances are being reported where the local authorities have asked the personnel of the telecom service providers at network operation centers and call centers to shut down operations in view of the restrictions. Hence it will be necessary that instructions reach the field level to permit personnel maintaining and providing telecom services to continue their work without interruption,” Prakash said in his letter to the state chief secretaries and Union Territory administrators. The Indian Express has reviewed a copy of the letter. The letter was preceded by another letter written by DoT advisor K Ramchand to the state and UT secretaries. Ramachand had, in his letter, suggested the states allow free movement of people working on key and critical telecom equipment and infrastructure. Despite the letter from the DoT advisor, telcos had been facing problems on the ground as far as operations of critical telecom infrastructure was concerned. In some states, vehicles ferrying diesel for the generators lighting up the telecom towers were turned away by police personnel from checkpoints. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology also wrote to chief secretaries to allow ensure IT and IT-enabled services remain operational. Here's a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: Are smokers at high risk form coronavirus? | Can Vitamin-C prevent or cure coronavirus infection? | What exactly is community spread of coronavirus? | How long can the Covid-19 virus survive on a surface? | Amid the lockdown, what is allowed, what is prohibited?
