Mobiles distancing people from family and friends: Nitish

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said over-dependence on mobiles was taking a toll on youth’s talent.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday warned people against “over-dependence on mobile phones” and said it was distancing people from family and friends.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar looks at the model of the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology building at Bihta, near Patna, on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/ HT photo)

“Our culture is of connecting with each other personally. Mobiles have brought down this tradition. People now show little interest in meeting each other face to face. We need to think over this,” Kumar said at the opening function of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) building at Bihta, on the outskirts of state capital, Patna.

Cautioning people against its excessive use, Kumar said over-dependence on mobiles was taking a toll on youth’s talent, as they were shying away from creative work.

The CM did not stop there. He said mobiles also caused pollution. “Mobiles create waves which cause pollution in environment. There is a definite impact of web on the ecology. The environment is being damaged and it has a direct bearing on the climate,” he said.

At the same time, the CM said cellphones had connected people across the globe. “There are 8.5 crore mobile users in Bihar,” he said.

Kumar also acknowledged the fact that Bihar youths had contributed a lot in the country and across the globe in the field of research and development of information technology (IT).

Lauding the revolution in IT sector, Kumar said it had brought transparency in the development work.

Aware of the fact that dependence on technology has increased manifold and there is no possibility of going back, Kumar said, “Without new technology work is not possible. But we should ensure that at least 10% of tradition is preserved.”

Stressing on the habit of reading, he said earlier people used to acquire knowledge through books and newspapers. Sadly youths nowadays were losing interest in reading or writing. “People are not using papers these days. Inquisitiveness is gone. We should avoid over-dependence on technology,” he said.