Call drops and public woes

In the digital era, where digital connectivity is a basic necessity, the frequent call drops and unreliable mobile services are not just a minor inconvenience—they are a serious barrier to communication, commerce and emergency responsiveness. In Srinagar, this growing frustration has found a focal point in Jio, the largest telecom operator in the country, whose users report worsening service quality. Residents from various parts of Srinagar are voicing a common grievance: calls that don’t ring, conversations that abruptly disconnect, and perhaps most troubling, delayed notifications of missed calls that arrive long after the fact. The irony lies in the fact that Kashmir is seeing an increasing shift toward digital life—be it in education, business, healthcare, or governance—yet the infrastructure meant to support this shift is faltering. When calls don’t go through and mobile internet speeds fluctuate, the promise of a “Digital India” feels distant and disheartening for users here. While the demand on networks has grown exponentially, that cannot excuse the lack of accountability from service providers. Jio, with its vast customer base in the region, has a responsibility not just to offer services, but to ensure those services are reliable, especially in a region with unique topographical and strategic challenges. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) must take serious note of these complaints and push for quality-of-service audits in the Valley. The Jio officials must urgently address its network shortcomings—be it through additional towers, signal boosters, or infrastructure upgrades—to ensure the people of Srinagar are not left unheard in more ways than one.