Digital push falls short: 238 villages in Odisha’s Koraput & Rayagada lack mobile connectivity

Despite the rapid push towards Digital India, as many as 238 villages in Odisha’s Koraput and Rayagada districts still remain without 4G or 5G mobile connectivity. Out of 459 sanctioned mobile towers in the two districts, 386 towers have already been installed. However, 4G services are still not available in 238 villages.

Ground reports from Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district and remote pockets of Gunupur in Rayagada highlight the severity of the situation. Residents often climb hills or even trees to access weak signals, sometimes relying on networks from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for essential online services such as Aadhaar updates, health insurance registration, and educational activities.

'Neglected For Being Tribals'

Speaking to OTV, Lok Sabha MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka alleged, “Blocks like Narayapatna, Lamtaput, Nandapur, Chandrapur, Gunpur, Muniguda, Bissamcuttack, and many other tribal-dominated areas are deprived of mobile connectivity. How will government schemes reach the people if there is no mobile connectivity? I think they are not giving any importance because we are tribals.”

Also Read: 238 villages in Odisha’s Koraput, Rayagada have no mobile connectivity: Centre

Likewise, Rubena Arika, a local, alleged, “There are 22 villages in our panchayat, and there is no network in all of these. We are close to the Andhra border. We have to climb trees for the mobile network and e-KYC of ration cards. There has been a BSNL tower here for the last two years, but they have yet to provide a network.”

Years Without Network

“There are three towers here, but of no value. We cannot even link our Aadhaar cards or get other online services. We have to trek through hills and mountains to get a network,” alleged another villager.

Under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) scheme, telecom providers, including BSNL and Jio, are working to expand connectivity. BSNL officials have cited geographical challenges, including dense forests, hilly terrain, and poor road access, as major hurdles in installing and operationalising towers in remote tribal areas.

Odisha IT Minister Mukesh Mahaling has assured that 4G connectivity will be streamlined across all villages by March 2026. Until then, hundreds of remote tribal villages continue to wait for reliable digital access in an increasingly connected India.