Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday inaugurated the free Wi-Fi hotspot installation at the ITO bus stop here in New Delhi.
The inauguration was held on a day when the city faced temporary internet shutdown due to the ongoing protests against the Citizen (Amendment) Act or CAA. On the other hand, Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia launched another free wi-fi installation at the Vishwavidyalaya Metro station.
आज मैंने और मनीष जी ने दिल्ली सरकार के फ़्री वाइफ़ाई के ज़रिए video call पर बात की – मैं ITO पर था और मनीष जी DU मेट्रो पर। 11,000 फ़्री वाइफ़ाई हाट्स्पाट्स के साथ पूरी दिल्ली वाइफ़ाई से कवर होगी। दिल्ली को एक मॉडर्न वर्ल्ड क्लास शहर बनाने के लिए ये बहुत बड़ा क़दम है। pic.twitter.com/0VfvkQjHCL
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 19, 2019
On Thursday, protests against CAA gained momentum after hundreds of commoners took to the streets and raised anti-CAA slogans and placards, following which the Delhi Police appealed all telcos to stop their communication services in northern and central parts of the national capital.
Internet services were down at Mandi House, Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh, Seelampur, Jafrabad and Bawana are other areas.
As many as 109 WiFi hotspots have been installed in parts of the country’s capital. On occasion Kejriwal said in the next six months, the city will get 11,000 hotspots. “This is phase one. In phase two, we will give hotspots to the entire city,” he said.
He also spoke about the internet shutdown in the city saying, “it is an irony that the day we started the free Internet scheme, the Internet services are being shut in the city […] We hope that the situation will be soon brought under control.”
(With input from agencies)