Lok Sabha Question No. 2668 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-04
Subject: PMGDISHA
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Shrikant Eknath Shinde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2668

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 04.12.2019

## PMGDISHA

## 2668.   SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE; DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL; DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

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

- (a) the number of rural villages which have registered under the 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta  Abhiyan'  (PMGDISHA)  to  usher  in  digital  literacy  in  rural  areas,  State/UT-wise along with the details thereof;
- (b) the basic definition of 'Digital Literacy' under this programme;
- (c) the target population of this Abhiyan;
- (d) whether the Government has allocated any fund under the said programme to improve the basic computer infrastructure in villages and if so, the details   thereof, State/UT-wise; and
- (e) the  manner  in  which  Government  plans  to  accomplish  the  digital  literacy  mission  through PMGDISHA when a significant number of people in the country are illiterate, as per the last Censes?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a): Under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) Scheme; so far, total number of 1,86,175 Gram Panchayats are covered. The State-wise details of Gram Panchayats covered under the PMGDISHA Scheme is at Annexure .
- (b): Under the PMGDISHA Scheme; Digital Literacy has been defined as the ability of individuals and  communities  to  understand  and  use  digital  technologies  for  meaningful  actions  within  life situations.  Any  individual  who  can  operate  computer/laptop/tablet/smart  phone  and  use  other  IT related tools is being considered as digitally literate.
- (c): The PMGDISHA Scheme is targeted to make six crore persons digitally literate in rural areas, covering around 40% of the rural population (one person per household) across States/UTs. Under the Scheme,  as  on  29.11.2019,  more  than  3.00  crore  beneficiaries  have  been  enrolled,  2.37  crore beneficiaries  have  been  trained,  out  of  which  1.74  crore  beneficiaries  have  been  certified  by  duly certified by 3rd party Certifying Agencies.
- (d): No  separate  fund  is  allocated  in  PMGDISHA  Scheme  for  setting  up  of  basic  computer infrastructure in the villages. The training is provided through Training Centres duly affiliated to CSC e-Governance  Services  India  Limited,  the  implementing  agency  of  the  Scheme.  These  Training Centres are mandated to have requisite infrastructure for imparting training under the Scheme.
- (e): To  ensure  equitable  geographical  coverage  across  the  country,  a  Gram  Panchayat  centric approach is adopted with targets being assigned for each Gram Panchayats. On an average a target of 200-300 beneficiaries per Gram Panchayat is envisaged. The content developed for digital literacy training is made available in multimedia format (including audio/ video) in 22 scheduled languages of India  apart  from  English.  This  facilitates  the  target  population  including  the  illiterate  to  grasp  the content in their choice of language.

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## Annexure

## State-wise count of number of Gram Panchayats covered under PMGDISHA

|   S.No | State Name        |   No. of Gram Panchayats covered |
|--------|-------------------|----------------------------------|
|      1 | Uttar Pradesh     |                            43595 |
|      2 | Maharashtra       |                            20711 |
|      3 | Madhya Pradesh    |                            18496 |
|      4 | Gujarat           |                            11712 |
|      5 | Rajasthan         |                             9423 |
|      6 | Chhattisgarh      |                             8512 |
|      7 | Tamil Nadu        |                             8437 |
|      8 | Bihar             |                             8341 |
|      9 | Odisha            |                             7663 |
|     10 | Andhra Pradesh    |                             6848 |
|     11 | Punjab            |                             6624 |
|     12 | Haryana           |                             6273 |
|     13 | Karnataka         |                             5796 |
|     14 | Jharkhand         |                             4438 |
|     15 | Telangana         |                             3561 |
|     16 | West Bengal       |                             3057 |
|     17 | Uttarakhand       |                             2633 |
|     18 | Assam             |                             2597 |
|     19 | Himachal Pradesh  |                             2319 |
|     20 | Jammu And Kashmir |                             2215 |
|     21 | Kerala            |                              757 |
|     22 | Tripura           |                              734 |
|     23 | Meghalaya         |                              465 |
|     24 | Arunachal Pradesh |                              222 |
|     25 | Manipur           |                              197 |
|     26 | Mizoram           |                              113 |
|     27 | Puducherry        |                               97 |
|     28 | Nagaland          |                               89 |
|     29 | Delhi             |                               72 |
|     30 | Goa               |                               59 |
|     31 | Sikkim            |                               44 |

| 32    | Andaman And Nicobar Islands   | 40       |
|-------|-------------------------------|----------|
| 33    | Dadra And Nagar Haveli        | 14       |
| 34    | Chandigarh                    | 12       |
| 35    | Daman And Diu                 | 7        |
| 36    | Lakshadweep                   | 2        |
| Total | Total                         | 1,86,175 |

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