Lok Sabha Question No. 148 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-18
Subject: Benefits of Communication Towers in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: DEVJI MANSINGRAM PATEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 148 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 th   JULY, 2018

## BENEFITS OF COMMUNICATION TOWERS IN RURAL AREAS

## †148. SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the installation of communication towers in villages has increased social activities  and  e-governance  employments  based  on  the  nearby  areas  and  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (b) the  number  of  communications  towers  installed  so  far  in  the  rural  areas  of country, State/UT-wise including Rajasthan and the number of such towers proposed to be installed in the current financial years, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  install  towers  in  tribal  panchayat Uplagarh  and  Nichlagarh  of  Pindwara  town  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (d) the details of schemes formulated by the Government for opening joint service centres  by  including  rural  entrepreneurs  of  villages  in  the  country  State/UT-wise including Rajasthan??

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) Yes, Madam. Mobile services provided by communication towers in villages do lead  to  increased  social  activities  and  e-governance  employments.  Mobile  services give  benefits  to  rural  areas  of  the  country  in  several  ways,  like  access  to  critical weather information, know-how  to improve agricultural output, social calls, egovernance,  online  education,  mobile  banking,  public  utility  services,  Direct  Benefit Transfer Scheme, e-commerce, financial inclusion services, skill development services, access to social media among others.
- (b) The  details  of  the  Licensed  Service  Area  (LSA)-wise  towers  installed  in  the country as on 1 st  July 2018 are as under:

| Details of LSA wise towers installed as on 1-July-2018   | Details of LSA wise towers installed as on 1-July-2018   | Details of LSA wise towers installed as on 1-July-2018   |
|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                   | LSA                                                      | Towers                                                   |
| 1                                                        | Andhra Pradesh                                           | 37439                                                    |
| 2                                                        | Assam                                                    | 10717                                                    |
| 3                                                        | Bihar                                                    | 33630                                                    |
| 4                                                        | Delhi                                                    | 22427                                                    |
| 5                                                        | Gujarat                                                  | 27387                                                    |
| 6                                                        | Himachal Pradesh                                         | 5239                                                     |
| 7                                                        | Haryana                                                  | 10390                                                    |
| 8                                                        | Jammu & Kashmir                                          | 8346                                                     |
| 9                                                        | Karnataka                                                | 29743                                                    |
| 10                                                       | Kolkata                                                  | 10680                                                    |
| 11                                                       | Kerala                                                   | 16223                                                    |
| 12                                                       | Mumbai                                                   | 14190                                                    |
| 13                                                       | Maharashtra                                              | 36408                                                    |
| 14                                                       | Madhya Pradesh                                           | 32193                                                    |
| 15                                                       | North-East                                               | 6852                                                     |
| 16                                                       | Odisha                                                   | 15829                                                    |
| 17                                                       | Punjab                                                   | 18492                                                    |
| 18                                                       | Rajasthan                                                | 25225                                                    |
| 19                                                       | Tamil Nadu                                               | 38606                                                    |
| 20                                                       | Uttar Pradesh (East)                                     | 30192                                                    |
| 21                                                       | Uttar Pradesh(West)                                      | 25372                                                    |
| 22                                                       | West Bengal                                              | 18868                                                    |
| Grand Total                                              | Grand Total                                              | 474448                                                   |

Information on breakup of towers on the basis of Rural/Urban Area is not being maintained. Network expansion depends on the business decisions of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and the same is not being maintained by the department.

(c) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) plans to install mobile Base Transceiver Station  (BTS)  in  Village  panchayat  Uplagarh  of  Pindwara  in  Rajasthan.  Further,  one private TSP namely M/s Reliance Jio India Limited (RJIL)has planned to install a tower in panchayat Nichlagarh of Pindwara town in Rajasthan.

(d) Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MeiTY),  Government  of India(GOI)  has  initiated  a  project  namely  'Common  Services  Centre  (CSC)  2.0'  in August, 2015 under Digital India Programme, which aimed to set up of at least one CSC at Gram Panchayat (GP) level to cover all the 2.5 lakh GPs across the country.

The key objective of CSCs is to deliver various citizen centric services, such as, Government to  Citizen  (G2C),  Business  to  Citizen  (B2C)  services,  financial  inclusion services, educational services, skill development services etc.

As on 30 th  June, 2018, the number of functional CSCs (Urban + Rural) across the Country is 3,05,226 CSCs, of which 2,10,314 CSCs were functional at Gram Panchayat level. The state/UT-wise details of the functional CSCs are provided in Annexure .

Annexure STATE/UT-WISE STATUS OF FUNCTIONAL CSCs  AS ON 30 JUNE, 2018

| S. No.   | State/UT             |   Total FUNCTIONAL CSCs |   Functional CSCs at GP level |
|----------|----------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh       |                    8295 |                          5139 |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh    |                      79 |                            59 |
| 3.       | Assam                |                    3250 |                          2435 |
| 4.       | Bihar                |                   23589 |                         17361 |
| 5.       | Chhattisgarh         |                   13332 |                         10163 |
| 6.       | Goa                  |                      50 |                            37 |
| 7.       | Gujarat              |                   15216 |                          9895 |
| 8.       | Haryana              |                    9722 |                          6876 |
| 9.       | Himachal Pradesh     |                    3070 |                          2269 |
| 10.      | Jammu & Kashmir      |                    2134 |                          1687 |
| 11.      | Jharkhand            |                   11891 |                          7687 |
| 12.      | Karnataka            |                    6581 |                          3562 |
| 13.      | Kerala               |                    2606 |                          1671 |
| 14.      | Madhya Pradesh       |                   21736 |                         16978 |
| 15.      | Maharashtra          |                   33723 |                         25979 |
| 16.      | Manipur              |                     706 |                           334 |
| 17.      | Meghalaya            |                     226 |                           167 |
| 18.      | Mizoram              |                     151 |                           116 |
| 19.      | Nagaland             |                     164 |                           122 |
| 20.      | Odisha               |                    8761 |                          6792 |
| 21.      | Punjab               |                    6941 |                          4567 |
| 22.      | Rajasthan            |                   15048 |                         11669 |
| 23.      | Sikkim               |                      33 |                            26 |
| 24.      | Tamil Nadu           |                    9955 |                          6321 |
| 25.      | Telangana            |                    6195 |                          3835 |
| 26.      | Tripura              |                     479 |                           380 |
| 27.      | Uttar Pradesh        |                   73984 |                         48868 |
| 28.      | Uttarakhand          |                    5310 |                          4460 |
| 29.      | West Bengal          |                   19190 |                         10652 |
| A        | Total                |                  302417 |                        210107 |
| 1.       | Andaman & Nicobar    |                      58 |                            53 |
| 2.       | Chandigarh           |                     141 |                            24 |
| 3.       | Dadra & Nagar Haveli |                      28 |                            12 |
| 4.       | Daman & Diu          |                      14 |                             8 |
| 5.       | Delhi                |                    2373 |                             0 |
| 6.       | Lakshadweep          |                       8 |                            12 |
| 7.       | Puducherry           |                     187 |                            98 |
| B        | Total                |                    2809 |                           207 |
| C        | A+B                  |                  305226 |                        210314 |

**************