Located near the border of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Nawazpur village in Yamunanagar district remains completely cut off from mobile network connectivity despite living in an era of digital advancement. With a population of around 850 people, not a single telecom service provider has coverage in this village. As a direct consequence of this blackout, residents are forced to travel three to four kilometers away from their homes just to place or receive a basic telephone call. The lack of cellular connectivity has severely disrupted daily life, leaving the community isolated from essential modern services.
Impact on Digital Payments and Student Education
The total absence of mobile coverage in Nawazpur has brought digital financial transactions and online banking to a complete standstill within the village. Whenever villagers need to make online payments, they have no option but to travel to neighboring villages to access a working network. The connectivity crisis has also dealt a heavy blow to local schoolchildren. With teachers routinely assigning homework and study material through WhatsApp, students find it nearly impossible to complete their academic tasks while at home, severely hindering their education.
Local Adaptations and Alternative Measures
Faced with persistent network failure, the residents of Nawazpur have taken matters into their own hands by arranging alternative solutions. Villagers have installed Wi-Fi connections across the village and set up landline phones as substitute communication tools. However, sarpanch representative Sanjeev Kumar pointed out that Wi-Fi is merely a temporary patch, especially given the rising cost of mobile and internet recharges. He emphasized that a village remains incomplete without proper mobile network coverage. Furthermore, a local student named Drishti highlighted that when students leave the village to study, their communication with their parents gets entirely severed due to unreliable networks, creating constant anxiety for families.
Appeals to Representatives and Official Response
Local resident Sanjay Gurjar stated that while the rest of the country relies heavily on digital platforms for everyday work, Nawazpur has seen no progress due to the lack of infrastructure. Villagers have submitted written petitions to the local MLA, the Member of Parliament, and BSNL officials, but no concrete action has been taken so far. The village panchayat has even offered to provide suitable government or private land to facilitate the installation of a mobile tower. Addressing the issue, Chhachhrauli SDM Jaspal Gill stated that the matter had recently come to his attention and assured that he would engage with the relevant telecom company to resolve the connectivity crisis at the earliest.
