Internet services restored in government hospitals in Kashmir, SMS facility resumes for mobile phones

SMS facility for mobile phones and Broadband internet service was restored in government-run hospitals at midnight on Tuesday (December 31) in Kashmir, after remaining suspended for almost five months.

It may be recalled that Internet services, landline and mobile phones were snapped across Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 - the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre decided to scrap Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"It has been decided to restore internet connectivity to all government hospitals with effect from midnight of December 31 besides fully restoring SMS on mobile phones," said Rohit Kansal, a spokesperson for the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

"Earlier on December 10, some SMSes were enabled on mobile phones in order to facilitate students, scholarship applicants, traders and others. It has now been decided to fully restore the service throughout Kashmir from the midnight of December 31," Rohit Kansal added.

The Kashmir administration is yet to take a decision on the restoration of Internet and pre-paid mobile services in Kashmir Valley.

Last week, the authorities had restored the mobile internet services in Kargil district of Ladakh after it remained suspended for almost 145 days after the scrapping of Article 370 in the region. While landline telephones were gradually restored first, postpaid mobile services were resumed later.

The internet blockade caused a lot of inconvenience to the students and businessmen across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The people had been demanding that the services be restored so that their difficulties come to an end. In the second week of December, the Ministry of Home Affairs withdrew 72 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) from Jammu and Kashmir.