UPA’s new scheme: Har Hath Main Phone!

NEW DELHI: In what could turn out to be its calling card for the 2014 general elections, the government is finalizing a Rs 7,000 crore scheme to give one mobile phone to every family living below the poverty line.

Sources in the PMO said the scheme—Har Hath Mein Phone—expected to be announced by PM Manmohan Singh on August 15, will not only aim to give away mobiles to around six million BPL households, but also provide 200 minutes of free local talk time.

Top government managers involved in formulating the scheme want to sell it as a major empowerment initiative of the UPA 2. While the move will ensure contact with the beneficiaries of welfare programmes worth thousands of crores, there is also a view the scheme will provide an opportunity for the UPA to open a direct line of communication with a sizable population that plays an active role in polls.

The scheme may be funded from the telecom department's universal service obligation (USO) funds. According to a source, 50% of the cost is likely to come from the bidder who gets the right to provide the service and the remaining from the USO fund. The fund is meant to be used to meet USO aims by providing access to phone services to people in rural and remote areas at affordable prices. The resources for its implementation are raised through a service levy fixed at 5% of the adjusted gross revenue of all telecom service providers except the pure value added service providers like internet, voice mail, email etc.

According to estimates, the scheme will involve a monthly expenditure of Rs 100 per cellphone. The government is also exploring the possibility of getting service charges subsidized through competitive bidding.

The PMO is directly involved with the Planning Commission and telecom ministry in giving a final shape to the scheme. The government has already launched a national infrastructure initiative under the PM's advisor Sam Pitroda that aims to link 2,50,000 panchayats across the country within 16 months through internet so that basic communication facilities can be provided to the rural masses.

Every poor family may get a mobile - The Times of India

Another scheme to loot the middle class and give it to the Congress vote bank. The rich and the politicians will remain untouched.

Every poor family should get access to toilet first..

+1

In fact, there shows be zero sales tax for toilet and cistern sales, and property taxes for homes without toilets should be doubled.

Our Ministers forgot what India looks like, I doubt they even walk on streets..

Besides Every poor Man family already have mobile..

Con-gress is back to its cheap tactics. Their brainless secular policies have costed this nation dearly. It will take another 50 yrs to mend the damage done by these looters and plunderers in 13yrs. This corrupt party will sell their mothers to retain power - so that they can further loot the poor of this nation!

Mobile phones for people who do not have food to eat, freedom to chose and electricity to charge their batteries! Really intelligent. This is exactly similar to giving Job reservations to people who do not have access to primary education.

Who benefits from these shameful policies? Corrupt/Secular Con-gress, Nehru/Gandhis and coterie (these people have become billionaires if not trillionaires all by looting tax-payers money). Who is left lurching? Middle class and poor.

P.S: Another scam in the making. We have only seen tip of the iceberg real scams are still to be unearthed!

Also, another scam in making. Not only it serves as a populist measure but also they can take percentage from the mobile providers as an election fund.

enjoy

Now even if non-congress gets chance they wont find possible to prove in 5 years and again people without thinking changes the govenment

I don't know why they need a cell phone of all things....

I dont know why this video is posted here . . .But from my encounters with citizens of former USSR i learnt that

Raj Kapoor was something of a Legend in USSR. . .and still is

Toilet nahin, khane ko nahin, education nahin aur yeh mobile ka charge ayega Montek ke Rs26/32 main.

The problem is the rich and the poor and the politicians do not care. The poor are in a daily struggle to survive while the rich couldn't be bothered (and most business people manage to avoid taxes) and the politicians go laughing all the way to election victory. While middle class like us faithfully pay taxes and bear the burden.

They will order Chinese handsets of shoddy quality with MTS or some other foreign company SIMs and give them to the people who are more bothered about next meal, living in the area where there is no network coverage.

Firstly, there will be Akash like disputes over pricing and quality. Then, a good number of handsets wouldn't reach the deserving recipients and if some really get them, they will sell these handsets in black market proving mobiles for nefarious activities.

Instead of conceiving innovatively idiotic schemes, had they worked only to get 100% electricity or 100% water supply without doing anything else, they would have won without campaigning for elections.

EDIT: BTW, how will they charge the battery!

Handsets - Chinaman
Network - Reliance Communications