Manipur has become the first state in the country to have cleared all pending RoW (Right of Way) permissions.
T R Dua, Director General, Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), said that representatives of DIPA were making huge efforts with the Manipur government for the alignment and implementation of ROW rules through a joint meeting and others in November 2016.
“GatiShakti Sanchar Portal” is a collaborative institutional mechanism between all stakeholders including Central and State/UT Government(s), Local bodies, and Service Providers to facilitate the Right of Way (RoW) Application Process through a single interface.
This portal envisages bringing transparency, accountability and responsiveness to all stakeholders while processing the application. This has further been taking a giant leapfrogging towards “Ease of Doing Business” as the application process for installation of Digital Infrastructure is being delayed due to inconsistency and uncertainty of policy and process and it requires maintaining a fast-tracking application process to overcome the challenges of implementation of Right of Way Rules-2016. This would provide a robust mechanism to achieve our goal of “Broadband to All” as envisaged in the National Digital Communication Policy-2018.
Features –
- GatiShakti Sanchar Portal will enable applicants from Telecom Services Providers (TSPs), Infrastructure Providers (IPs), Internet Services Providers (ISPs) etc. to apply for RoW approvals for laying Optical Fiber Cables (OFC) and erecting Telecom infrastructures like Towers etc. to submit their applications to various agencies of State/UT Governments and local bodies.
- To assist users, it has a dedicated 8×6 (Monday to Saturday) customer services call centre (from 10 AM – 6 PM), which supports RoW applicants and other stakeholders through a number (0755-2700802) and email (support@sugamsanchar.gov.in)
- Shortly, the GatiShakti Sanchar Portal will be integrated with Central ROW Portals of central Ministries/departments like M/o Defence; M/o Environment Forests and Climate Change; M/o Road Transport and Highways; M/o Railways; M/o Petroleum and Natural Gas; M/o Housing and Urban Affairs; Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; M/o Civil Aviation; Department of posts.
- For effective monitoring the dashboard of the portal gives pendency status – overall, State wise and district wise.