Lok Sabha Question No. 386 (STARRED), answered on 2016-12-14
Subject: IT Infrastructure for Gram Panchayats
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *386

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 14.12.2016

## IT  INFRASTRUCTURE FOR GRAM PANCHAYATS

## *386 SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV: SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

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

- (a) the  action  taken  by  the  Government  to  speed  up  the  digital  penetration  and accessibility especially in remote areas/villages;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to augment information technology infrastructure for digital connection of gram panchayats and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether the Government plans to collaborate with the private sector for augmenting the digital connectivity in the rural areas and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (c):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*386 FOR 14.12.2016  REGARDING IT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR GRAM PANCHAYATS

……..

(a) and (b): The main actions taken by the Government to speed up the digital penetration and accessibility especially in remote areas/villages, and augmenting information technology infrastructure for digital connection of Gram Panchayats (GPs) are as follows:

- (i) BharatNet: The Department  of  Telecom  under  Ministry  of  Communication  is implementing  the  BharatNet  project  for creating network  infrastructure to provide  a broadband connectivity to all GPs (approx. 2,50,000) in the country. Under the said project, pipeline has been laid in 76,728 GPs, 1.48 lakhs KMs of optical fibre pulled for 64,955 GPs and 15,134 GPs have been connected.
- (ii) Common  Services  Centre  (CSC):  The  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India is establishing CSCs in order to deliver eServices, especially  in  remote  areas/villages.  For  this,  the  Ministry  has  approved  a  programme  in August 2015 with outlay of ` 475.11 Cr. for enhancing the number of CSCs to 2.5 lakhs (one CSC in every GP) by August 2019. The current number of registered CSCs is 2,56,493; out of this, 1.75 lakhs CSCs are active and transacting for delivery of eServices; out of this, 1.22 lakhs are at GP level.
- (iii) The  Department  of  Telecom,  Ministry  of  Communications  released  additional spectrum over 2300 MHz band in 2016 and made it available through an auction process to Telecom Service Providers to enable them to provide greater digital connectivity across the country including rural areas.
- (c): Under the BharatNet Project, the Government has modified its strategy to implement the  project  in  three  phases  in  collaboration  with  three  Central  Public  Sector  Undertakings (CPSUs) and State Governments.

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 MeitY. 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 services across the country.

The Telecom connectivity is provided in collaboration with Telecom Service Providers which includes private players and Government Public Sector undertakings.

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