Multiplying initiatives under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and Wateen Telecom on Tuesday announced to make first ever Free WiFi villages of Tharparkar, Sindh.
The announcement was made by SECMC CEO, Mr. Shamsudin Shaikh and Wateen Telecom Chief Mr. Rizwan Tiwana during a press conference held in Green Park, Thar Block II of Taulka Islamkot, Tharparkar.
Mr. Shaikh informed that in the first phase, two villages, namely Tharyo Halepoto and Senhri Dars is being given the facility of Free WiFi at the speed of 3MB. While in the second phase, he said all the schools of Thar Coal Block II will be made Free WiFi.
“We want to take children of our host communities into the 21st century at par with children of urban centers of the country,” said, Mr. Shaikh.
He said, they are working on to making entire Thar Block II as Free WiFi block in the upcoming phase and ground work is being prepared in this regard.
Responding to a question, Mr. Shaikh said that Free WiFi facility is addition to the initiatives being taken by SECMC under CSR.
“We are already implementing a comprehensive CSR plan for provision of quality education, state of the art health facilities and clean drinking water facilities to the host communities with around population of 10,000 inhabitants,” he said.
“Provision of scholarship to deserving students and Thari Trainee Engineers program is also an added initiative for Thar Coal Block II residents,” Mr. Shaikh added.
Mr. Rizwan Tiwana was of the view that they have gone extra mile to lay fiber optic cable for Thar Block II, which was not an easy task technically.
“Partnering with SECMC, we will further explore the possibilities to provide internet facilities for Thar Coal Block II in particular and far-flung areas of Tharparkar in general,” he said.
He was of the view that Wateen proudly owns a network of 25,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable across Pakistan, which is being extended to far-flung areas of Tharparkar.