Lok Sabha Question No. 461 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Digital Communication in Rural India
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Pratima Mondal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 461 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH FEBRUARY, 2020

## DIGITAL COMMUNICATION IN RURAL INDIA

## 461. SHRIMATI PRATIMA MONDAL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the list of rural areas that are deprived of digital communication, State - wise; and
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to enhance digital literacy in the rural areas?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) As  per  the  data  collected  from  the  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  and  Departm Telecommunications (DoT) field units in 2019, it is estimated that there are 27,721 inhab (as per census 2011 data) in the country, which are not covered by mobil  services. The details are given at Annexure.
- (b) Government has launched Digital India Programme to enhance digital literacy in rur under which following steps are taken by the Government:
- i . To  realize  the  objective  of  attaining  digital  litera cy,  the  Government  has  launched  two schemes, namely 'National Digital Literacy Mission' and 'Digital Saksharta Abhiyan'. The major aim of the schemes was to cover one person from every eligible family to digitally  literate  so  as  to  enable  them  to  u se  IT  and  related  applications  and  participa effectively in the democratic process and enhance their livelihood. Both these sch implemented concurrently across the country under which a total of 53.67 lakh bene were trained and duly cer tified.
- ii . The  Government  of  India  has  approved  a  scheme  titled  'Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital Saksharta  Abhiyan  (PMGDISHA)' to  usher  in  digital  literacy  in  rural  India  by  covering  6 crore rural households (one person per household). Under the Scheme, so far , a total of 3.31 crore individuals have been enrolled, out of which training has been imparted to individuals and 1.97 crore individuals have been duly certified.

Annexure  referred  to  in  Part  (a)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question No.  461  for  answer  on 05.02.2020

## State/ UT wise list of villages regarding coverage of mobile services

| Sl. No.   | State/UT            |   Number of inhabited villages as per census 2011 |   No. of inhabited villages covered withmobile services |   No. of inhabited villages without mobile services |
|-----------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andaman & Nicobar   |                                               396 |                                                     239 |                                                 157 |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh      |                                             16158 |                                                   14063 |                                                2095 |
| 3.        | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                              5258 |                                                    3454 |                                                1804 |
| 4.        | Assam               |                                             25372 |                                                   24162 |                                                1210 |
| 5.        | Bihar               |                                             39073 |                                                   38807 |                                                 266 |
| 6.        | Chandigarh          |                                                 5 |                                                       5 |                                                   0 |
| 7.        | Chhattisgarh        |                                             19567 |                                                   17317 |                                                2250 |
| 8.        | Dadra & NagarHaveli |                                                65 |                                                      65 |                                                   0 |
| 9.        | Daman & Diu         |                                                19 |                                                      19 |                                                   0 |
| 10.       | NCT of Delhi        |                                               103 |                                                     103 |                                                   0 |
| 11.       | Goa                 |                                               320 |                                                     297 |                                                  23 |
| 12.       | Gujarat             |                                             17843 |                                                   17152 |                                                 691 |
| 13.       | Haryana             |                                              6642 |                                                    6641 |                                                   1 |
| 14.       | Himachal Pradesh    |                                             17882 |                                                   17716 |                                                 166 |
| 15.       | Jammu & Kashmir     |                                              6101 |                                                    5963 |                                                 138 |
| 16.       | Jharkhand           |                                             29492 |                                                   28239 |                                                1253 |
| 17.       | Karnataka           |                                             27397 |                                                   26834 |                                                 563 |
| 18.       | Kerala              |                                              1017 |                                                    1017 |                                                   0 |
| 19.       | Ladakh              |                                               236 |                                                     174 |                                                  62 |
| 20.       | Lakshadweep         |                                                 6 |                                                       5 |                                                   1 |
| 21.       | Madhya Pradesh      |                                             51929 |                                                   48959 |                                                2970 |
| 22.       | Maharashtra         |                                             40959 |                                                   37970 |                                                2989 |
| 23.       | Manipur             |                                              2515 |                                                    1727 |                                                 788 |
| 24.       | Meghalaya           |                                              6459 |                                                    4861 |                                                1598 |
| 25.       | Mizoram             |                                               704 |                                                     434 |                                                 270 |
| 26.       | Nagaland            |                                              1400 |                                                    1131 |                                                 269 |
| 27.       | Odisha              |                                             47677 |                                                   41128 |                                                6549 |
| 28.       | Punjab              |                                             12168 |                                                   12168 |                                                   0 |
| 29.       | Puducherry          |                                                90 |                                                      90 |                                                   0 |
| 30.       | Rajasthan           |                                             43264 |                                                   42494 |                                                 770 |
| 31.       | Sikkim              |                                               425 |                                                     414 |                                                  11 |
| 32.       | Tamil Nadu          |                                             15049 |                                                   15021 |                                                  28 |
| 33.       | Telangana           |                                             10128 |                                                   10018 |                                                 110 |
| 34.       | Tripura             |                                               863 |                                                     855 |                                                   8 |
| 35.       | Uttarakhand         |                                             15745 |                                                   15540 |                                                 205 |
| 36.       | Uttar Pradesh       |                                             97813 |                                                   97394 |                                                 419 |
| 37.       | West Bengal         |                                             37478 |                                                   37421 |                                                  57 |
|           | TOTAL               |                                            597618 |                                                  569897 |                                               27721 |

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