THE POLITICALLY beleaguered administration of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh plans to spend more than 70 billion rupees (€1.02 billion) distributing over six million mobile phones free to each household below the country’s poverty line.
Senior officials claim the populist “In every hand a telephone” scheme, expected to include 200 minutes of free call time a month with each connection, is aimed at the 2014 general elections.
It is likely to be announced by Mr Singh on India’s Independence Day on August 15th.
“We are exploring this possibility [of distributing free mobile phones],” said federal planning commission deputy head Montek Singh Alhuwalia. “The basic idea is that in rural areas we need to increase access to mobile telephony.”
Officials said funding for the grandiose proposal is likely to be divided between the federal telecommunication department and the vendor short-listed to provide the handsets and services.
India officially has more than 6.52 million households that would be eligible for this scheme. benchmark used by .
While some analysts say the scheme would empower families below the poverty line and ensure multiple benefits currently denied them, others maintain that in a system riddled with corruption, it would be impossible to ensure it reached the intended beneficiaries.
“With 70 billion rupees at stake, does anyone seriously think that the people involved at every level [distributing mobile phones] are going to keep their sticky fingers out of the till?” asked analyst Anil Thakkar in yesterday’s Times of India.
Others critical of the scheme said no adequate support infrastructure existed to sustain such a large number of mobile phones; merely charging 6.52 million phones, for instance, would require large amounts of power that was woefully insufficient.
The opposition has dismissed the proposal as an “election gimmick” aimed at diverting people’s attention from basic survival issues by presenting them “toys”.
“The government should first provide two meals to the poor and strengthen their hands to hold mobile phones. What will the poor with empty stomach do with mobiles?” Shahnawaz Hussain, spokesman for the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said.
According to UN figures, India is the world’s second-largest user of mobile phones after China.
