While some are struggling and using all they can to have better connectivity in their area, elders of an Indian village has banned unmarried women from using mobile phones, for fear that flirtatious texting and endless phone calls could lead to a breakdown of society. They have deemed the technology a “nuisance to society”. He said mobile phones were distracting unmarried women from carrying out their studies and household chores in the village, which has a population of 2,000.
“Young girls get misguided, it can break families and ruin relationships,” warned Raikarnji Thakor, the community leader of the Indian village of Suraj.
Teenage girls and young women who are caught owning or even speaking on mobile phones in Suraj, Gujarat will face a 2,100 rupee (£20) fine. Informers who catch them in the act will be financially rewarded. Use of smartphones across India has shot up in recent years, with more than 200 million users expected by the end of 2016, surpassing the US.
“Why do girls need cell phones? Internet is a waste of time and money for a middle-class community like us,” said Devshi Vankar, Suraj’s sarpanch, or village head. “Girls should utilise their time for study and other works.”
Mr Vankar told the newspaper that the “entire population” welcomed the decision, and hoped to spread the initiative beyond the village of Suraj , which lies just 40 miles from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown of Vadnagar. It comes in the week that Mr Modi has been touring farming communities with promises to expand his “Digital India” drive for greater internet connectivity to rural areas across the country. The mobile ban was introduced at a village meeting originally called to discuss the community’s growing alcohol abuse problem.
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