Students protest at BSNL office in Goa's Sattari over patchy internet
Jun 30, 2021
By Anil Sanadi
Valpoi (Goa) [India], June 30 : Tired of the internet connectivity issues leading to a continuous struggle in attending their online classes, students from the villages of Kodal, Satrem and Derode in Sattari taluka in North Goa held a protest march at BSNL office at Valpoi on Tuesday.
Schools across the country are opting for the online mode of studies in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The protesting students said that connectivity issues are not new for them and they struggled with the same even during the last academic year.
The protesting students informed that they have already written a letter to the local village panchayat about the problem faced by them and the panchayat has forwarded their letter to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
"We wrote to the panchayat about our problems. Our letter was even forwarded to the Chief Minister. But to date, no one has replied to our letter. We are tired of the inaction," said Sundar a student from Satre.
He added that the students have now given a two-day deadline to BSNL for solving their problems, or else, will be visiting their office again.
Further elaborating on the issues faced due to connectivity problems, Sundar said, "there are three villages without range. I don't have a vehicle. I take lifts in the morning and travel 15 kilometres to find the network to attend my classes. there also network od not very strong and classes get disconnected."
Another student informed that when they approached BSNL with their problem earlier, the officials at Valpoi told them that they would look into the matter. "However, We have called the officers, but they have not come. We have been waiting for a long time," he added.
