SHIMLA-14^th February, 2023 -Chief Minister, Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today launched the Fifth Generation, (5G) services of the Jio telecom network in Himachal Pradesh and congratulated the Jio team and the people of State, who will immensely benefit from this as every third person in the State is utilizing the internet services.

Expansion of 5G services would further strengthen the digital infrastructure in the state, which would usher in a plethora of opportunities and enriched experiences for every individual especially students, businessmen and professionals, said the Chief Minister. "It has been a complete transformation in the telecom sector, as we began from Landline during the time of late Sukh Ram ji, the then Union telecom Minister, thereafter to 2 G, and so on," said the Chief Minister.

The 5G technology has an important role to play in the flagship projects of the state government i.e. tourism, healthcare, horticulture, agriculture, education, etc. said Sh. Sukhu further adding that a complete revolution has been witnessed in telecom arena which will help immensely in Health sector. The Government mulls to give a lift to the health services in the State health and to introduce world-class technology in health institutions and all six medical colleges. The latest 5G connectivity will prove a boon in research and reference for the doctors.

Similarly, the government is committed to bring radical changes in education sector as well and latest courses like Robotics, Block Chain Technology, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will be introduced in technical educational institutions from the next academic session, so that the youth can get better employment opportunities in these sectors. For the purpose, the State Government has sanctioned an amount of Rs.20 crore, he added.

It was during the pandemic that the internet services increased the experience of the students from offline to online and increased their imagination and learning process. The online education has become an integral part as of now, said he.

The Chief Minister asked the company to strengthen the 5G infrastructure to district headquarters level so that people do not face inconvenience in their day to day life.

Earlier, Chief Executive Officer (North India), Jio Company, Kapil Ahuja welcomed the Chief Minister on the occasion and said that the company would provide 5G services to the customers in Shimla, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Nadaun, in first phase and rest of the cities will be connected through 5G services by the end of this year.

Public Works Minister, Vikramaditya Singh, Political Advisor to Chief Minister Sunil Sharma, Principal Advisor (IT & Innovation), Gokul Butail, Principal Advisor (Media), Naresh Chauhan, and senior officers of the district administration and Reliance Jio were also present on the occasion amongst others.