Lok Sabha Question No. 2383 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Digital India for Rural India
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2383

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.12.2018

## DIGITAL INDIA FOR RURAL INDIA

## 2383.       SHRI SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of Digital India Initiative undertaken by the Government in rural and hilly areas in the country;
- (b) the number of internet subscribers in the country separately in rural and hilly areas, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the estimated funds required and allocated for the purpose, State/UT-wise; and
- (d) the details of challenges faced for effective implementation of Digital India initiative and the measures taken by the Government so far?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA)

(a): The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India has initiated the 'Digital India' programme with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Some of the key initiatives taken by the Government including rural and hilly areas in the country are as follows:

-  Common Services Centre (CSC): Common Services Centres are internet enabled centres operated by local entrepreneur, called Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) and provide eServices to rural citizens. For this, MeitY has initiated a project namely 'Common Services Centre (CSC) 2.0' in August, 2015 under Digital India Programme, which envisages setting up of at least one CSC at Gram Panchayat (GP) to  cover all  the  2.5 lakh  GPs across the country.  Over 300 digital services are being offered by these CSCs.  Till  November,  2018,  there  are  3.05  Lakh  Common  Services  Centre  which  are  active  and delivering eServices in rural and hilly areas in the country.
-  DigiGaon: MeitY  has  also  initiated  the  'Digital  Village  Pilot  Project'  in  October,  2018.  700  Gram Panchayats (GPs) with atleast one Gram Panchayat per District per State/UT are being covered under the project. The digital services being offered are Digital Health Services (Tele-Health & Tele-Veterinary consultation),  Education  Service,  Financial  Services,  Skill  Development,  Solar  panel  powered  street lights including Government to Citizens Services (G2C), Business to Citizen (B2C) Services.
-  BharatNet: Provisioning of internet connectivity in rural areas is under the purview of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under Ministry of Communications. DoT is implementing BharatNet project with  the  aim  to  connect  all  2,50,000  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  in  the  country  and  provide  100  Mbps connectivity to all GPs. So far, 3,01,154 Kms of optical fiber has been laid connecting 1,21,652 Gram Panchayats and  1,16,411 Gram Panchayats are service ready.
- (b) and  (c): Provisioning  of  internet  connectivity  in  rural  areas  is  under  the  purview  of  Department  of Telecommunications  (DoT),  under  Ministry  of  Communications.  An  amount  of  Rs.  42068  crore  has  been approved by cabinet on 19.07.2017 for BharatNet project. The funds are allocated by USOF for the project as a whole and not State/UT-wise. The funds allocated are Rs. 16286 crore upto 2017-18 and Rs. 6000 crore for 2018-19. The number of internet subscribers State/UT-wise in the country is given in annexure.
- (d): The primary challenges faced  for implementation  of  Digital  India  programme  are  digital  literacy  and digital  connectivity.  Government  has  already  taken  necessary  measures  to  tackle  these  challenges  through

implementing PMGDISHA to usher in digital literacy in rural India with the objective of covering 6 crore rural households and BharatNet project with the aim to connect all 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country with 100 Mbps connectivity.

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## Annexure

Telecom Service Area-wise, Rural/Urban subscriber-base of Internet as on 30 th September, 2018.

| Telecom service area   | Subscribers (in Millions)   | Subscribers (in Millions)   |
|------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
|                        | Rural                       | Urban                       |
| Andhra Pradesh         | 17.50                       | 26.28                       |
| Assam                  | 5.23                        | 5.02                        |
| Bihar                  | 18.21                       | 14.52                       |
| Delhi                  | 0.76                        | 32.17                       |
| Gujarat                | 10.46                       | 25.45                       |
| Haryana                | 4.88                        | 8.70                        |
| Himachal Pradesh       | 2.78                        | 1.86                        |
| Jammu &Kashmir         | 2.39                        | 3.63                        |
| Karnataka              | 10.63                       | 25.08                       |
| Kerala                 | 8.99                        | 13.59                       |
| Kolkata                | 1.17                        | 13.02                       |
| Madhya Pradesh         | 11.53                       | 23.88                       |
| Maharashtra            | 16.80                       | 29.31                       |
| Mumbai                 | 1.08                        | 23.25                       |
| North East             | 2.75                        | 3.34                        |
| Orisaa                 | 7.66                        | 5.59                        |
| Punjab                 | 6.50                        | 14.67                       |
| Rajasthan              | 13.95                       | 18.12                       |
| Tamil Nadu             | 11.57                       | 29.14                       |
| UP(East)               | 18.47                       | 19.71                       |
| UP(West)               | 9.61                        | 18.17                       |
| West Bengal            | 11.16                       | 11.46                       |
| Total                  | 194.07                      | 365.95                      |