About 20,000 people and even security personnel deployed beyond the hill-town of Dharchula in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand along the India-China border are dependent on Nepal Telecom to communicate, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has written to defence and telecom ministries.
They have to depend on Nepal Telecom because no Indian telephone service provider currently has coverage in these areas.
Mr Rijiju recently visited the 625 kilometre-long "middle sector" - that runs along the watershed from Ladakh to Nepal and spreads across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In his two day trip Rijiju visited far-flung areas Nabhidang, Gunji, Budhi, Malpa and Gunjee along the border.
"I find this unacceptable," Mr Rijiju told NDTV. Apart from security concerns - that security forces also use the Nepal Telecom network to talk to their families - the fact that there is no Indian telecom service available is a matter of concern if not shame, the minister said.
"It is ironic that despite Nepal's limited capacity, it has better telecom network," the minister said. Even state-owned telecom carrier BSNL doesn't have a network in these areas.
In his letter to the Ministry of Defence, Mr Rijiju has underlined the security personnel - Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo- Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Indian Army - deployed along this sector are using the Nepal Telecom. These conversations can be easily listened into with the ease, the minister has also emphasized. He has asked Telecom Ministry to immediately address the issue.
"Everything from fuel, food, and medicines are airlifted. No roads have been built in these areas for the last 68 years," the minister said. "I realized that no Central minister had ever visited this area in the last 68 years," he added.