Lok Sabha Question No. 3982 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-17
Subject: Irregularities in Bharatnet project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rahul Ramesh Shewale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3982 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 TH   JULY, 2019

## IRREGULARITIES IN BHARATNET PROJECT

## 3982.   SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO: SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is lagging behind in achieving the targets of connecting Gram Panchayats by Broadband under the Bharatnet Project in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise and the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the number of complaints received by the Government regarding irregularities in implementation of the  Bharatnet  Project  across  the  country  along  with  action  taken/  being  taken  by  the  Government  on  such complaints so far, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) & (b) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country. In December 2017, the phase-I of the BharatNet project  was  completed  by  connecting  one  lakh  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs).  A  modified  strategy  to  implement BharatNet has been approved by Cabinet on 19.07.2017, which provides an optimal mix of media to connect GPs,  implementation  by  State-led  Model,  Private  Sector,  and  Central  Public  Sector  Undertaking  (CPSU) Model;  laying  of  fresh  fibre  from  Block  to  GPs  and  setting  up  of  last  mile  architecture  at  all  GPs.  As  on 04.07.2019, a total of 1,21,416 GPs (including Block Headquarters) have been made Service Ready. The Statewise status of BharatNet is attached at Annexure-I.

The delay in the initial implementation of the project was on account of:

- (i) Delay in the initial commencement of project as the work on the project began in the second half of 2014 due to field survey of GPs and pilot testing of the technology model.
- (ii) Only one media that is underground Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) to cover GPs, and Right of Way (RoW) issues.

Since  May  2016,  with  the  constitution  of  the  following  committees,  the  issues  are  being  resolved timely:

- i) Empowered Committee under Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
2. ii) Steering Committee under Administrator, Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
3. iii) State  Committee  under  Chief  General  Manager  (CGM),  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited (BSNL) for resolution of State level issues.

(c) As per the information provided by the Vigilance Wing of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), the details are given in Annexure-II.

## BharatNet status as on 04.07.2019

| Sr. No.     | State/Union Territory   |   Service Ready GPs (Including BHQs) |
|-------------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1           | Andhra Pradesh          |                                 1502 |
| 2           | Arunachal Pradesh       |                                  164 |
| 3           | Andaman &Nicobar        |                                    0 |
| 4           | Assam                   |                                 1622 |
| 5           | Bihar                   |                                 6216 |
| 6           | Chandigarh              |                                   13 |
| 7           | Chhattisgarh            |                                 4088 |
| 8           | Dadra &Nagar Haveli     |                                   21 |
| 9           | Daman &Diu              |                                   18 |
| 10          | Gujarat                 |                                 6219 |
| 11          | Haryana                 |                                 6188 |
| 12          | Himachal Pradesh        |                                  241 |
| 13          | Jammu &Kashmir          |                                  905 |
| 14          | Jharkhand               |                                 2409 |
| 15          | Karnataka               |                                 6166 |
| 16          | Kerala                  |                                 1129 |
| 17          | Lakshadweep             |                                    0 |
| 18          | Madhya Pradesh          |                                12725 |
| 19          | Maharashtra             |                                15173 |
| 20          | Manipur                 |                                  325 |
| 21          | Meghalaya               |                                  192 |
| 22          | Mizoram                 |                                   41 |
| 23          | Nagaland                |                                  123 |
| 24          | Odisha                  |                                 3660 |
| 25          | Puducherry              |                                  101 |
| 26          | Punjab                  |                                 8806 |
| 27          | Rajasthan               |                                 8655 |
| 28          | Sikkim                  |                                   17 |
| 29          | Tamil Nadu              |                                    0 |
| 30          | Telangana               |                                 2047 |
| 31          | Tripura                 |                                  549 |
| 32          | Uttar Pradesh           |                                28405 |
| 33          | Uttarakhand             |                                 1518 |
| 34          | West Bengal             |                                 2178 |
| Total Total | Total Total             |                               121416 |

## Details of the Complaints about irregularities in implementation of BharatNet:

|   S.N o. | Name of the State/Union Territory   |   No. of complaints | Action taken/ being taken :                                                                                                                            |
|----------|-------------------------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Meghalaya                           |                   2 | Under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)                                                                                       |
|        2 | Uttar Pradesh                       |                   6 | All the 6 complaints have been disposed of                                                                                                             |
|        3 | Madhya Pradesh                      |                   1 | Complaint has been disposed of                                                                                                                         |
|        4 | Delhi                               |                   3 | 2 complaints have been disposed of and 1 complaint is under examination                                                                                |
|        5 | Bihar                               |                   1 | Advisory sent to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) & RailTel Corporation of India Limited (RailTel) |
|        6 | Maharashtra                         |                   2 | Under investigation                                                                                                                                    |

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