The SLS Residential School founded by President Droupadi Murmu at Pahadpur, her late husband’s village, in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district is likely to be a part of the launch of 5G service in India on Saturday.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to start the service with the inauguration of Indian Mobile Congress at Pragati Maidan on October 1, teachers and students of SLS Residential School are excited that they would be among the first users of 5G services in the country.
“Executives of Reliance JIO Limited set up a temporary tower on school campus to enable launching of 5G services. Demonstrations have already been carried out. The speed of internet is lightning,” said Muna Pratihari, Vice President of SLS School. Depending upon the availability of land, a permanent tower equipped with 5G devices would be set up, said company sources.
President Murmu had converted her in-laws’ ancestral house into a residential school in memory of her husband Shyam Charan Murmu, elder son Laxman Murmu and younger son Sipun Murmu, who passed away due to different reasons between 2009 and 2014.
“The school is very close to the heart of the President of India. Before assuming the highest office, she used to visit the school regularly, even during her Governorship of Jharkhand,” said Mr. Pratihari. Ms. Murmu used to be the President of the school. However, after adorning constitutional positions, she gave up the position and now her daughter is the president of the school.
Pahadpur is 20 km from Rairangpur, Mayurbhanj’s sub-divisional headquarter. It is also labled as a bank’s digital village because all the residents of Pahadpur are bank account holders. Majority of the bank transactions are done on cashless mode either through debit or credit card, mobile phone application or e-wallet. Ms. Murmu’s birth place, Uparbeda is also a digital village.
Apart from school children, top officials of the Department of Telecom would be present at Pahadpur for the momentous occasion.