Born 2nd January, 1956, Dr. Shakeel Ahmad is serving the 14th Lok Sabha as MP from Madhubani in Bihar and is presently in the Central Government in the capacity of Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. HTE's Aziz Haider chanced to interview Dr. Ahmad on his recent visit to UP. During the interview, Dr. Ahmad talked of varying issues ranging from the condition of UP under Mulayam rule to the affairs of minorities and the telecom industry. He said the Indian telecom industry has come a long way and now it’s time for the country to be the nerve centre for the world. Excerpts from an interview:
Q: Where do you see the telecom industry at present?
A: A host of telecom services are being provided in the country - from plain vanilla telecom apps to cutting edge Wi-Fi; however, connecting the remote villages continues to be an uphill task. These fruits of the telecom revolution should reach the village population as well. We need to increase the tele-density of the country and that's how we can accelerate the process of bridging the digital divide.
Q: What are you doing to take the telecom revolution to the villages?
A: There are one lakh panchayats in the country. In all those one lakh panchayats we are going to start one information centre each through an expense of Rs. 6000 crore. Government has already given this scheme a go-ahead.
One information centre will have one telephone, one computer with internet broadband facility. This will facilitate our e-governance programme. We will train the Panchayat representatives on use of computer and internet. This will be on the lines of Andhra Pradesh where all the village sarpanchs work on internet.
Q: Don’t you agree that the BSNL system is failing?
A: I do not agree with this. There was a meeting of head of circle in Delhi recently. I told them that they should keep this in mind why media always writes adverse stories on BSNL. I ask the media, when we have given license for 20 years to these telecom operators and about 12 years have already expired out of those 20, how come they are giving lifelong offers. Why do the media not write against these companies?
Q: What is the Government doing in this regard?
A: The Government has taken note over this. We have written to TRAI and they are contemplating action.
Q: Where does the telecom industry need improvement?
A: The quality of service (QoS) in telecom need to improve.
Q: You hail from the minority community. What are your views regarding the Sachar Committee report?
A: Minority alone cannot do anything for itself. Majority should take the minority along the path of development. They should come forward and help the Muslims in their efforts at self-development. This is the need of the hour.
Other than the majority community working out plans to benefit the minority, the Muslims should also plan their future. Those who are not strong are blown away by the wind.
Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh need to be praised for taking the bold step of tabling this report. This is a milestone in the right direction. Muslims should take cue and start striving for the path of progress and development.
Congress chose the path of the brave by being non-partisan and secular at the time of Independence. Otherwise it was easy for the Congress to make India a Hindu-rashtra. But it decided to be a party of the masses rather than the party of a particular religion, sect or caste. Congress may have suffered few setbacks due to its policy but it was the path that needs to be commended and appreciated.
Q: Have any specific instructions been given to ministries to plan special schemes for minorities?
A: Proper plan will be chalked out after discussion takes place in Parliament. But this is definite that the Government is very much concerned about implementing the Sachar Committee report. We will try to do our best so that attempt is made to bring the section that is lagging behind, at equal level with the rest. Government may form some nodal agency or give guidelines to all ministries to do something has not been decided yet but this is certainly our concern.
Q: What do you have to say about education among Muslims?
A: They are definitely lagging behind. You people write that madrasas are brewing grounds for militancy. But only 4% Muslims are sending their children to madrasas. I am of opinion that more madrasas should be opened so that more students become educated.
Q: This means Mulayam is right when he distributes computers to madrasas?
A: Mulayam has a dual face and giving computer is a part of that. What has he done to enhance the level of education among Muslims? What has he done to give more employment to Muslims? He talks of Muslims but gives jobs to people of a particular caste.
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