Punjab internet shutdown causes glitch in income flow, remote work, education

CHANDIGARH: It was raining in Chandigarh on Monday afternoon and Asha Pawa, a contractual employee with an online food delivery service had to return home to her two children without getting any sales because her internet wasn’t working.

“There was no internet in the area so I was unable to take orders. Even yesterday, I got lost while delivering an order as the connection was disrupted. The order was delayed,” she said. Asha says she usually makes Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 from deliveries on weekends, most of which is spent on petrol for her two-wheeler.

This weekend though, she could only earn a few hundred due to the state-wide internet shutdown in Punjab, which has also affected mobile internet in Chandigarh. Asha is the sole bread winner in the family.

The Punjab government has now extended the shutdown to Tuesday noon. Describing the current shutdown in Punjab as a “gross violation of civil liberties,” Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific Policy director at Access Now, a non profit organisation dedicated to safeguarding digital civil rights of people, said, “The shutdown in Punjab is particularly troubling as the entire population has to suffer because of a person and a small group. It is the less privileged who have to suffer the most.”

Restaurant businesses have also been affected due to the shutdown. While most restaurants have Wi-Fi, delivery partners can’t take bookings as they are dependent on mobile internet.

Hunny, who runs a restaurant in Mohali, says usually he receives about 600-700 food orders on the weekends, but this weekend almost no orders were booked.

Those whose work is dependent on mobile internet ran huge losses. A cab driver in Mohali, one of whose children is doing BDS and the other is preparing for NEET, said, “I have to spend a lot of money on the children’s education and I depend on my daily earning as a cab driver to run the house. This internet shutdown has landed me in a precarious position.”

The internet shutdown took most by surprise as people were not prepared. A Mohali resident said she had to walk in the rain as she wanted to book a cab but could not.

DIGITAL DIVIDE IN CLASSROOMS

The steep cost of coaching classes leaves many students dependent on YouTube lessons. However, not many can afford a broadband connection, especially in rural areas. A school teacher shares, “Many students here study from YouTube channels and don’t have Wi-Fi at home. With mobile internet not working, their studies are suffering.”