Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar today criticised the UPA government at the Centre for it's 'indulgence to privatisation'.

Inaugurating "WIMAX" (Wireless Broadband) services in Tripura at a function organised by BSNL here, Sarkar said as part of its policy, the UPA government was encouraging the private sector and discouraging the public sector which was disastrous for the country.

"The total number of mobile subscribers in Tripura is more than 15 lakh of which the number of BSNL subscriber is only 3.5 lakh. All these things are happening because the Central government was encouraging the private sector", he said in his inaugural speech.

Sarkar said WIMAX started functioning in other parts of the country long back but this facility was extended to this north eastern state late because the region was neglected.

"When any technology or device becomes old then only they send them to the north eastern region. We have noticed that one part of India is shining and the vast areas, including the rural areas, were suffering due to the policy of the Central government", he added.

D. Chakraborty, GM, BSNL, Tripura said that with the inauguration of the service now people living in far flung areas would be able to use the internet facilities.