27th October 2003 – Why it is a watershed day for the North East?

Jarnail Singh
Very few people remember the significance of 27 th October 2003 for the North-East. It was a watershed day on which the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee gave a big push to economic development of the North-East and launched internet and mobile services in the North-East which were hitherto banned. At that time, I was Joint Secretary to the PM and was with the PM in Kohima on that day.
Till 26th October 2003, there was a ban on extension of internet and mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir and north-eastern states, except Greater Guwahati and Shillong. Main reason for non-extension of these services to other areas of Assam, Meghalaya and to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, and Manipur was concerns of security forces. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Defence were not in favour of extension of these services on grounds of high militancy and terrorist activities and the fear that these services would increase subversive activities in the region. However, this ban also meant that an overwhelming number of peace-loving people of the North-East would remain deprived of benefits of telecommunications technology which could improve business and trade as well as spur economic growth.
There had been frequent requests from state governments of North Eastern States to lift ban and allow use of mobile services as well as the internet. Business communities and traders were also demanding the lifting of ban. It was also becoming increasingly clear that internet and mobile services would be leaders of economic growth in the 21 st century. Keeping this in view, in early 2003, discussions had started in the Department of Communications and also in the Prime Minister’s Office for extending mobile, internet and other value-added services of telecommunications to all of north eastern states.
The arguments of MHA and security forces to continue the ban were ignoring brighter sides of the internet and mobile. Arun Shourie, Minister of Communications, had a vastly different approach to this issue and strongly pushed for extension of these services to all north eastern states. I also contributed my bit and was happy that Brajesh Mishra, the Principal Secretary to PM favoured lifting the ban. A high level meeting was held in PMO on this subject to discuss the pros and cons of objections of security agencies and benefits of internet and mobile services on business, trade and economic growth.
I vividly remember in this meeting in PMO where one of the arguments against extension of these services was that militants could use mobiles to pass on information about movements of security forces and plan subversive activities.
To counter this, another participant pointed out that there were reports that some militants were using satellite phones, which were better than mobiles. At the end of the meeting, PM over-ruled objections of security agencies and approved extension of internet and mobile services to all north eastern states, and to Jammu and Kashmir. PM also decided that he would launch these services for the North-East from Kohima on 27 th October 2003.
The Nagaland Government was eager to welcome PM AB Vajpayee to Kohima. Accordingly, a tour programme was planned for the PM to first go to Dimapur, and then to Kohima by helicopter. The launch of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) mobile and internet services for North-East was scheduled on 27 October 2003 from Kohima. Along with this launch, other meetings were also planned. The following day, the PM was scheduled to address the convocation of Nagaland University and a public meeting in Kohima.
On 27 th October 2003 forenoon, when PM’s entourage landed at Dimapur airport, it was raining heavily. The helicopters were unable to take off for Kohima and waited at the airport for rain to stop. After realising that it would not stop raining, an alternate arrangement was made by road to Kohima. We travelled by National Highway 2 (the then National Highway 39), supposedly, one of the best roads in Nagaland. However, it was so poorly maintained that the PM commented about it in his public meeting the next day. As soon as we reached Kohima, the PM inaugurated the launch of mobile and internet services from Kohima for the whole of North-East. It was a watershed day for the North-East as a major initiative was taken in the telecommunications sector.
The subsequent happenings from 2003 to 2025 have proved that extension of mobile and internet services in the North-East did not increase militancy and terrorist activities but increased economic growth of the region, improved business and trade and helped in creating employment opportunities.
The writer is former Chief Secretary of Government of Manipur and also served as Administrator of Manipur University