Lok Sabha Question No. 1820 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-26
Subject: Digital Connectivity in Rural Areas
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: RITI PATHAK

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1820

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.07.2017

## DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY  IN RURAL AREAS

## 1820. SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a)  the action taken by the Government to expedite the work in regard to providing digital access particularly in farflung areas/villages;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to promote information technology infrastructure for providing digital connections in Gram Panchayats, if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  bring  in  private  sector  for  promoting  the  digital connectivity in rural areas; and
- (d)   if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) and (b): The  action  taken  by  the  Government  to  expedite  the  work  in  regard  to providing  digital  access  particularly  in  far  flung  areas/villages,  and  promoting  information technology infrastructure for providing digital connections in Gram Panchayats (GPs)  is as under:

- (i) BharatNet : Provisioning of internet connectivity at rural areas is under the purview of  Department  of  Telecommunications  (DoT),  under  Ministry  of  Communications.  DoT  is implementing  National  Optical  Fibre  Network  (NOFN)  project,  renamed  as  BharatNet. Telecom  Commission  in  its  meeting  on  14.12.2016  approved  the  revised  implementation strategy  of  BharatNet  project.  It  has  been  planned  to  provide  100  Mbps  broadband connectivity to  all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 lakhs) in the country by using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre  over  power  lines,  radio  and  satellite  media. The  project  is planned to  be  implemented  in  three  phases:  Under  first  phase  of  the  project,  1  lakh  Gram Panchayats  (GPs)  are  to  be  connected  by  laying  underground  Optical  Fibre  Cable(OFC) which is under implementation. Under Phase-II, connectivity will be provided to remaining 1.5 lakhs GPs in the country using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre over power lines,  radio  and  satellite  media,  and  provision  of  last  mile  access  to  the  network  and broadband service provisioning through Wi-Fi or any other broadband access technologies in all  2,50,000  GPs  in  the country,  which  is  targeted  to  be  completed  by  March,2019.  Under third phase, a state-of-the-art network with ring architecture is planned to be completed by 2023.

Under the said project (phase-I), 2,38,489 KMs of pipeline has been laid in  1,06,276 GPs, 2.20 lakhs KMs of optical fibre pulled for 1,00,152 GPs and 23,147 GPs have been connected so far till July 9, 2017.  The detailed status of BharatNet project under Phase-I is given in Annexure-I .

(ii) Wi-Fi Choupal: The  CSC  Special  Purpose  Vehicle  (CSC  -SPV)  launched  an initiative on pilot basis calledWi-Fi Choupal for 5,000 Gram Panchayats (GP) ,  a  rural Wi-Fi  service  initiative  in  financial  year  2016-17  at  the  behest  of  Telecom  Commission, Department  of  Telecommunications,  Govt.  of  India.  Wi-Fi  Choupal  project  has  been launched to provide Wi-Fi Internet access in rural  India through CSCs. As on date, Wi-Fi Infrastructure has been deployed in 2500 GPs across 9 States (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Karnataka) and 2 Union Territories (Chandigarh and Puducherry). The activation of the internet service has been done at 650 GP locations.

## (iii) National Information Infrastructure (NII):

A pilot on National Information Infrastructure (NII) for a period of one year   was initiated by MeitY  in  July,  2015  for  one  district  each  in  the  States  of  Nagaland,  Karnataka,  Kerala, Gujarat,  Uttarakhand  and  UT  of  Chandigarh  and  Puducherry  to  integrate  various  ICT infrastructure  namely  State  Data  Centres  (SDCs),  State  Wide  Area  Network  (SWAN), National  Knowledge  Network  (NKN),  National  Informatics  Centre  Network  (NICNET), State Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG)  including National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)/BharatNet  created  in  these  States.  The  objective  is  to  provide  connectivity  to government offices upto Gram Panchayat (GP) level (1059 GPs).

(iv) Common Services Centre (CSC): The  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India approved a project- 'CSC 2.0', in August, 2015 under Digital India Programme for a period of four years, which envisages setting up of at least one Common Services Centre (CSC) at Gram Panchayat (GP) level to cover all the 2.5 lakhs GPs across  the  country  to  facilitate  the  delivery  of  citizen  centric  eServices.  M/s  CSC  eGovernance  Services  India  Limited  (a  CSC  Special  Purpose  Vehicle,  CSC  -SPV)  was engaged as the implementing agency for the project with active support and participation by the respective State/Union Territory (UT) Nodal Department(s), State Designated Agencies (SDAs), and, the District e-Governance Society (DeGS).

Till June, 2017 , 3,00,774 Common Services Centres (CSCs) have been registered across the country, out of  which, 1,96,922 are at Gram Panchayat (GP) level. Out of the total registered CSCs, 2,61,071 CSCs are functioning and transacting for delivery of eServices, out of which, 1,63,226 CSCs are functioning at GP level.   The State/UT-wise CSC roll out status is given in Annexure-II.

(c) and (d): Under  the  BharatNet  Project,  the  Government  has  modified  its  strategy  to implement the project in three phases in collaboration with Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs).

In  order  to  facilitate  the  delivery  of  eServices,  particularly  in  rural  areas,  M/s  CSC  eGovernance Services  India  Limited  was  set  up  as  a  Special  Purpose  Vehicle  (CSC  -SPV) under  Company  Act,  1956  in  2009.  CSC  -SPV  is  collaborating  with  Village  Level Entrepreneurs  (VLEs),  Private,  Public  and  other  eService  providers  at  National  level  and State/Union Territory (UT) level for seamless delivery of citizen centric eServices across the country including Wi-Fi service (on pilot basis).

The Telecom connectivity is provided by various Telecom Service Providers which includes private players and Government Public Sector undertakings.

********

Annexure-I

| STATUS OF BHARATNET AS ON 09.07.2017   | STATUS OF BHARATNET AS ON 09.07.2017               | STATUS OF BHARATNET AS ON 09.07.2017   |
|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| S.N.                                   | Description of Work                                | Status                                 |
| 1.                                     | OFC Pipe laid                                      | 2,38,489 Kms (1,06,276 GPs)            |
| 2.                                     | Optical Fibre laid                                 | 2,20,139 Kms (1,00,152 GPs)            |
| 3.                                     | Tenders Finalized                                  | 3324 Blocks / 1,24,412 GPs             |
| 4.                                     | Work Started*                                      | 3223 Blocks / 1,20,570 GPs             |
| 5.                                     | Current Weekly performance of Optical Fibre laying | 662Kms                                 |
| 6.                                     | Current Weekly performance of OFC Pipe laying      | 889 Kms                                |
| 7.                                     | Optical Fibre Cable Delivered on site              | 2,55,499 Kms                           |
| 8.                                     | GPON Integrated &Tested (Lit)                      | 23,147 GPs                             |

* does not include the data of Andhra Pradesh

State-wise status of NOFN (BharatNet) as on 09.07.2017

|   S. No. | States/ UTs      |   No. of Gram Panchayats (GPs)- Phase I |   Pipe laid (kms.) |   Cable laid (in kms) |   No. of GPs where Pipe laid |   No. of GPs where Cable laid |   GPs Lit |
|----------|------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------|
|        1 | Assam            |                                    1533 |               3799 |                  4158 |                         1420 |                          1348 |       354 |
|        2 | Bihar            |                                    5754 |              12199 |                 12940 |                         4967 |                          4742 |       711 |
|        3 | Chhattisgarh     |                                    4104 |              10213 |                  7873 |                         3304 |                          3159 |      1289 |
|        4 | Haryana          |                                    6020 |               9776 |                 10993 |                         5907 |                          5801 |       894 |
|        5 | Jammu &Kashmir   |                                     388 |                427 |                   388 |                          214 |                           200 |         0 |
|        6 | Karnataka        |                                    6092 |              11784 |                 12193 |                         6026 |                          6010 |      4826 |
|        7 | Kerala           |                                     977 |                720 |                   830 |                         1129 |                          1129 |      1129 |
|        8 | Madhya Pradesh   |                                   12655 |              35904 |                 31113 |                        12026 |                         11643 |      3599 |
|        9 | Maharashtra      |                                   15301 |              26696 |                 25129 |                        12664 |                         11843 |      1992 |
|       10 | Punjab           |                                    8049 |               9810 |                  9153 |                         6989 |                          6745 |       637 |
|       11 | Rajasthan        |                                    8194 |              21069 |                 20268 |                         7114 |                          7046 |      1725 |
|       12 | Uttar Pradesh    |                                   27974 |              48556 |                 44678 |                        25363 |                         23409 |      2785 |
|       13 | Uttarakhand      |                                    1863 |               2792 |                  2636 |                         1503 |                          1463 |       431 |
|       14 | West Bengal      |                                    2637 |               5175 |                  4876 |                         1822 |                          1791 |       231 |
|       15 | Andaman &Nicobar |                                      69 |                  0 |                     0 |                            0 |                             0 |         0 |

| 16.   | Chandigarh          | 12     | 18     | 19     | 12     | 12     | 12    |
|-------|---------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-------|
| 17.   | Arunachal Pradesh   | 863    | 1558   | 656    | 609    | 220    | 0     |
| 18.   | Nagaland            | 994    | 2614   | 1475   | 831    | 462    | 0     |
| 19.   | Manipur             | 904    | 333    | 232    | 154    | 122    | 26    |
| 20.   | Mizoram             | 763    | 735    | 438    | 125    | 73     | 0     |
| 21.   | Tripura             | 1021   | 1688   | 1584   | 834    | 810    | 79    |
| 22.   | Meghalaya           | 1208   | 1212   | 525    | 433    | 191    | 0     |
| 23.   | Gujarat             | 6905   | 10518  | 9542   | 5046   | 4478   | 1018  |
| 24.   | Puducherry          | 98     | 82     | 92     | 98     | 98     | 101   |
| 25.   | Andhra Pradesh      | 1673   | 2627   | 766    | 520    | 283    | 0     |
| 26.   | Telangana           | 2017   | 4538   | 4462   | 2038   | 2038   | 206   |
| 27.   | Odisha              | 3860   | 8121   | 7970   | 3109   | 3108   | 517   |
| 28.   | Jharkhand           | 2713   | 5012   | 4669   | 1864   | 1775   | 529   |
| 29.   | Himachal Pradesh    | 252    | 513    | 481    | 155    | 153    | 56    |
| 30.   | Daman &Diu          | 15     | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0     |
| 31.   | Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 20     | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0     |
| 32.   | Sikkim              | 52     | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0     |
| 33.   | Lakshadweep         | 10     | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0     |
| 34.   | Tamil Nadu          | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0     |
| 35.   | Goa*                | -      | -      | -      | -      | -      | -     |
|       | Grand Total         | 124127 | 238489 | 220139 | 106276 | 100152 | 23147 |

*All the GPs of Goa are already connected with Optical Fibre

## ANNEXURE - II

| STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   |
|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No .                                                 | State                                                   | No. of Gram Panchayat (GP)                              | No. of CSCs Registere d including GP                    | No. of CSCs Registered at GP level                      | No. of GPs covered with Registered CSC                  | Total No. of Functiona l CSCs including GP              | Total No. of Functional CSCs at GP level                |
| 1                                                       | Andhra Pradesh                                          | 12833                                                   | 5488                                                    | 3475                                                    | 3475                                                    | 5212                                                    | 3119                                                    |
| 2                                                       | Arunachal Pradesh                                       | 1779                                                    | 115                                                     | 54                                                      | 54                                                      | 54                                                      | 44                                                      |
| 3                                                       | Assam                                                   | 2196                                                    | 2735                                                    | 2246                                                    | 1883                                                    | 2213                                                    | 1559                                                    |
| 4                                                       | Bihar                                                   | 8463                                                    | 22380                                                   | 17541                                                   | 8413                                                    | 19090                                                   | 11960                                                   |
| 5                                                       | Chhattisgarh                                            | 9734                                                    | 11929                                                   | 8410                                                    | 9734                                                    | 11175                                                   | 7940                                                    |
| 6                                                       | Goa                                                     | 189                                                     | 54                                                      | 37                                                      | 37                                                      | 32                                                      | 30                                                      |
| 7                                                       | Gujarat                                                 | 13735                                                   | 18062                                                   | 14845                                                   | 13735                                                   | 16805                                                   | 13885                                                   |
| 8                                                       | Haryana                                                 | 6155                                                    | 8724                                                    | 5834                                                    | 5834                                                    | 7900                                                    | 4923                                                    |
| 9                                                       | Himachal Pradesh                                        | 3243                                                    | 2624                                                    | 2269                                                    | 2269                                                    | 2552                                                    | 1952                                                    |
| 10                                                      | Jammu &Kashmir                                          | 4128                                                    | 2123                                                    | 1039                                                    | 1039                                                    | 1727                                                    | 900                                                     |
| 11                                                      | Jharkhand                                               | 4423                                                    | 9799                                                    | 7445                                                    | 4161                                                    | 9014                                                    | 5295                                                    |
| 12                                                      | Karnataka                                               | 5628                                                    | 6564                                                    | 2665                                                    | 2665                                                    | 4963                                                    | 2333                                                    |
| 13                                                      | Kerala                                                  | 979                                                     | 2676                                                    | 1969                                                    | 979                                                     | 2119                                                    | 1111                                                    |
| 14                                                      | Madhya Pradesh                                          | 23012                                                   | 19446                                                   | 13175                                                   | 13175                                                   | 16194                                                   | 11873                                                   |
| 15                                                      | Maharashtra                                             | 27920                                                   | 31066                                                   | 19464                                                   | 19464                                                   | 25324                                                   | 17788                                                   |
| 16                                                      | Manipur                                                 | 165                                                     | 646                                                     | 256                                                     | 165                                                     | 554                                                     | 207                                                     |
| 17                                                      | Meghalaya                                               | 1463                                                    | 262                                                     | 193                                                     | 193                                                     | 198                                                     | 74                                                      |
| 18                                                      | Mizoram                                                 | 776                                                     | 376                                                     | 316                                                     | 316                                                     | 316                                                     | 176                                                     |
| 19                                                      | Nagaland                                                | 1123                                                    | 232                                                     | 230                                                     | 230                                                     | 220                                                     | 138                                                     |
| 20                                                      | Odisha                                                  | 6234                                                    | 8651                                                    | 6832                                                    | 5564                                                    | 6545                                                    | 5599                                                    |
| 21                                                      | Punjab                                                  | 12800                                                   | 6261                                                    | 4282                                                    | 4282                                                    | 5229                                                    | 3464                                                    |
| 22                                                      | Rajasthan                                               | 9946                                                    | 30436                                                   | 15038                                                   | 9946                                                    | 29814                                                   | 14878                                                   |
| 23                                                      | Sikkim                                                  | 165                                                     | 37                                                      | 31                                                      | 31                                                      | 31                                                      | 23                                                      |
| 24                                                      | Tamil Nadu                                              | 12618                                                   | 11069                                                   | 5773                                                    | 5773                                                    | 7408                                                    | 4646                                                    |
| 25                                                      | Telangana                                               | 8787                                                    | 5564                                                    | 3180                                                    | 3180                                                    | 5043                                                    | 2855                                                    |
| 26                                                      | Tripura                                                 | 1038                                                    | 521                                                     | 442                                                     | 442                                                     | 366                                                     | 322                                                     |
| 27                                                      | Uttar Pradesh                                           | 51914                                                   | 67054                                                   | 41675                                                   | 41675                                                   | 58876                                                   | 35804                                                   |
| 28                                                      | Uttarakhand                                             | 7555                                                    | 5594                                                    | 4441                                                    | 3230                                                    | 15653                                                   | 3853                                                    |
|                                                         |                                                         | 3351                                                    | 17527                                                   | 13584                                                   | 4441                                                    | 4339                                                    | 6330                                                    |
| 29                                                      | West Bengal                                             | 242352                                                  | 298015                                                  | 196741                                                  | 166385                                                  | 258966                                                  | 163081                                                  |
|                                                         | State Total Union Territory                             |                                                         |                                                         |                                                         |                                                         |                                                         |                                                         |
| 1                                                       | Andaman &Nicobar                                        | 69                                                      | 49                                                      | 26                                                      | 24                                                      | 42                                                      | 20                                                      |
| 2                                                       | Chandigarh                                              | 17                                                      | 112                                                     | 29                                                      | 17                                                      | 65                                                      | 21                                                      |
| 3                                                       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli                                     | 11                                                      | 31                                                      | 16                                                      | 11                                                      | 21                                                      | 9                                                       |
| 4                                                       | Daman and Diu                                           | 14                                                      | 11                                                      | 2                                                       | 2                                                       | 8                                                       | 1                                                       |
| 5                                                       | Delhi                                                   | 0                                                       | 2361                                                    | 0                                                       | 0                                                       | 1854                                                    | 0                                                       |
| 6                                                       | Lakshadweep                                             | 10                                                      | 3                                                       | 3                                                       | 3                                                       | 2                                                       | 2                                                       |

| STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   |
|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No .                                                 | State                                                   | No. of Gram Panchayat (GP)                              | No. of CSCs Registere d including GP                    | No. of CSCs Registered at GP level                      | No. of GPs covered with Registered CSC                  | Total No. of Functiona l CSCs including GP              | Total No. of Functional CSCs at GP level                |
|                                                         |                                                         | 1                                                       | 2                                                       | 3                                                       | 3.1                                                     | 4                                                       | 5                                                       |
| 7                                                       | Puducherry                                              | 98                                                      | 192                                                     | 105                                                     | 95                                                      | 113                                                     | 92                                                      |
|                                                         | UT Total                                                | 219                                                     | 2759                                                    | 181                                                     | 152                                                     | 2105                                                    | 145                                                     |
|                                                         | GRAND TOTAL                                             | 242571                                                  | 300774                                                  | 196922                                                  | 166537                                                  | 261071                                                  | 163226                                                  |