New telecom Infra policy gets state cabinet’s nod

Bhubaneswar: The state cabinet chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday gave its approval to eight important proposals, including Mobile Towers, Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) and Related Telecom Infrastructure Policy-2017.
“Though the housing and urban development department had introduced a policy for those laying mobile towers and optical fibres in town, municipality and notified area council (NAC) areas in 2013, there was no definite policy for rural areas. Keeping this in mind, the government has come up with a standardized policy with relaxed guidelines for rural pockets, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and difficult areas of the state. Those interested for installing mobile towers and laying optical fibre cables in urban areas will have to seek permission from the municipality, corporation or NAC. Similarly, permission in rural areas has to be sought from block development officer concerned,” chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi told mediapersons after the meeting.
State and district level committees have also been formed for hearing grievances related to installation of towers, cables and telecom infrastructure, he added.
The government’s recent decision to implement the 7th Pay Commission recommendations for in-service employees and pensioners, Food & Procurement Policy for Kharif and the new agreement with the IOCL relating to the Paradip Refinery also got the cabinet’s green light.