Jaipur, Sept. 28 -- Rajasthan chief minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Saturday said Digital India means empowering all the backward sections by connecting the tribals, farmers, and women to the rest of the world through advanced telecom technology. "When Modi talks about digital India, he doesn't mean only the urban people but also the tribals residing in a rural village in Odisha or the villagers living in the remote border areas of Arunachal Pradesh. Telecom doesn't mean data for the PM but also an empowerment tool," the chief minister said. He further added: "Digital India means empowering the backward sections of the society. With this dream, the PM wants the rural farmers to make calls to the Mandis easily, get weather updates while the tribal children get access to the online classes." Taking a dig at the Congress, he also said, "This party had exploited the telecom sector for their own interest. Some massive corruption took place in this sector during their ruling which pushed our telecom system to the backseat. It is only (the former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee who bettered the system, ensured public access, and built the BSNL." Praising Prime Minister Modi's telecom policies, Sharma said that the PM, after taking power in 2014, transformed the communication system into a pillar of nation building, honour for the women and farmers, and a tool for developing a new India. CM, on Saturday joined the PM's BSNL 4G network launching event, through video conferencing from Jaipur. Addressing the event, he stated that Rajasthan has got a total 5,655 new BSNL towers under this project. "This is not just a number but also a further step towards India's development. Today, India is one of those five countries in the world which has built 4G networks with domestic technology," said CM. Referring to PM Modi's goal to ensure telecommunication access at every corner of India under his leadership, the CM also said, "Central government has a target to set up 1 lakh (100k) BSNL 4G towers across the country. These could also be updated to the 5G network. This is the very identity of a self-reliant India dreamt by PM Modi." According to the chief minister, more than 27,000 villages in Rajasthan will be covered with these new towers benefitting more than 20 lakh (2 million) people. The event in Jaipur was also attended by the Union law minister and Bikaner MP Arjun Meghwal and the Union agriculture minister and Ajmer MP Bhagirath Chaudhary....