MOST OF THE VILLAGES NOW HAVE PUBLIC TELEPHONES:

 Under its plan to provide telecommunication connectivity to rural areas, the government said that it has provided village public telephones in most of the villages in the country.

"Under Bharat Nirman, villages not having access to public telephones were to be provided with Village Public Telephones (VPTs). 5,77,671 villages, out of a total of 5,93,601 villages in the country, have been provided with VPTs," the UPA government said in its annual report card for the year 2010-11.

The government also said that it has provided broadband connections to more than 97,500 villages under its target of connecting 2.5 lakh village panchayats by 2012. To enhance broadband connectivity in villages, the government said the Universal Service Obligation Fund proposes to launch a 'Wireless Broadband Scheme', wherein broadband coverage will be provided to about five lakh villages across the country.

BADAL, AMARINDER LOCKED IN ‘POLITICAL’ BATTLE

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said that the Akalis did not have any personal issues against Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh. "Captain Amarinder takes a political war as a personal one," he said during media interaction after a programme at Panj Garaiyaan in the district.

"We always respect him and have no personal fight with him. He is only our party's competitor," said Chief Minister Badal, adding that he did not know why Captain Amrinder always attacked him and his family personally in bad and abusive language in political rallies and other functions which were not acceptable in this democratic country.

"In democracy, everyone has the right to say anything, and the Congress is a main opposition party in Punjab and has the right to raise questions against the ruling party, but not specific and particular personalities," said Badal. Talking on the issue of bifurcation of district Gurdaspur to make two new districts Pathankot and Batala, Badal simply said that these issues were raised by both BJP MLA Jagdish Raj Sahni and Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal and he had no information in this regard.

Badal chided Captain Amarinder Singh for deliberately drifting away and diverting the attention of the people from the core issue of development-the major poll plank in the forthcoming assembly elections due to his party's non performance and utter failure in the deliverance of clean and transparent administration to the people during his last tenure.

Badal categorically said: "Captain Amarinder had nothing to his credit to woo the voters except indulging in hollow slogans to malign us and to discredit our spectacular achievements for the overall development of the State."