Srinagar, June 30: With ban on Short Messaging Services of pre-aid cellphones in Jammu and Kashmir completing one year on Thursday, the Government seems in no mood of lifting the curbs over it 
 Following snapping of SMS of cellular phones on June 30 last year, the curbs on the post-paid was revoked in December 2010, but the pre-paid subscribers continue to be deprived of the same facility.
 The ban on the service for the past one year has put lakhs of subscribers to hardships besides huge losses to the cellular companies.
 “The snapping of service has left us without cheap means of communication.  What one could convey through an SMS at a cost of few paise has to be conveyed through a phone call worth rupees,” said Nazir Ahmed, a subscriber.
 Sources told Greater Kashmir  more than 70 percent of the mobile phone users in JK are using prepaid connections.
 The politicians too have joined the chorus for restoration of the prepaid SMSes and questioned the continuous ban over it in the  wake of the prevailing peace here.
 National Conference member parliament from south Kashmir Dr Mehboob Beg said government needs to revisit the extraordinary measures including SMS ban, which were taken to handle the abnormal situation.
 “There is no justification for the communication curbs and if they have been able to bring the situation back normalcy, let the common man reap its benefit. If masses don’t feel the relief, then there is no difference between normal and abnormal situation,” he said.
 Chief spokesman of Peoples Democratic Party Naeem Akhter said “this is part of the repressive measures taken by the government against people.”
 “Even militancy has gone, infiltration is zero and their is peace, but the government is too unsure even to allow the  SMS to get restored. They are scared of ghosts of their own misdeeds and the ordinary people have to pay the price for it,” he said.
 Pertinently, since the start of mobile services in JK, the cellular facilities have been barred many times in the past.
 During the 2008 Amarnath agitation, the SMS facility was banned in the state. A ban was imposed on prepaid cell phones in November 2009, but was revoked in January 2010.
 In April 2010, ban was imposed on SMS, but was revoked before it came into effect. During last year’s unrest, the private cellular services were banned in areas of Baramulla and Sopore on June 29. On the very next day, curbs were put on the SMS services here

Lastupdate on : Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST