A year has elapsed since the government banned the 4G mobile internet services in the newly formed union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The year without 4G mobile internet services has left no one untouched and hasmultiplied the miseries of people in general, particularly students, businessmen and others who continue to strive even after a year of deprivation of these services. In this period, the people from all walks of life have raised queries and demanded restoration of the high speed mobile data services in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State, which was sliced into two Union Territories including J&K and Ladakh. Many of the rights bodies also pitched for the early restoration of high speed mobile data services, but all in vain as no steps were taken in this regard, thus leaving the students, employees, trade community and others in lurch at large. The high speed mobile data services would have helped the people of Jammu and Kashmir in order to get their works done especially during the period of lockdown when most of the people prefer to stay indoors in order to prevent the spread of novel Coronavirus. Just, few days after the unlock 1.0 was announced, the COVID cases witnessed a surge in Srinagar and other areas where work from home is still a distant dream for working professional who couldn’t rely on 2G internet services. The people especially the traders and youth working in private firms would have still kept themselves indoors and continued to work from home in case the high speed mobile data services would have been restored. The government should consider the lifting of ban on high speed mobile data services so that the people will not be forced to come out of their homes unnecessarily that will help in preventing the virus from spreading. The restoration of the 4G mobile internet services will also help the student community to attend the virtual classes in an efficient and reliable manner during the ongoing pandemic.
