Lok Sabha Question No. 1779 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-27
Subject: Internet Facilities in All Gram Panchayats
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1779 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH   JULY, 2022

## INTERNET FACILITIES IN ALL GRAM PANCHAYATS

## 1779.   SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is ensuring internet facility in all Gram Panchyats (GPs) of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the steps taken to intensify operationalization of the same;
- (c) the details of number of GPs in the country which do not have any internet facility, State/UT wise; and
- (d) the details of fund released and utilized in this respect during the last two years, for linking GPs with internet?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) & (b) Broadband/Internet services are provided in a phased manner by the Government and Telecom Services Provider (TSPs) in the uncovered villages of the country. As per the data provided by Telecom Service Providers and field units of Department of Telecommunications, it is estimated that out of 5,97,618 inhabited villages (as per Census 2011) in the country, a total number of 5,58,537 villages have mobile broadband wireless coverage.

BharatNet project is implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the country. As on 04.07.2022, total 1,77,550 GPs have been made Service Ready under the BharatNet project in the country.

The infrastructure created under BharatNet project is a national asset, accessible on a nondiscriminatory  basis  to  the  Service  Providers,  and  the  same  can  be  utilized  to  provide  broadband services,  such  as  Wi-Fi  Hotspots,  Fibre to  the  Home  (FTTH)  connections,  leased  lines,  dark  fibre, backhaul to mobile towers, etc. The Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of such network, created for providing the services, is done by the respective Service Providers.

BharatNet network is monitored through centralised Network Operating Centre (NOC) and its reports  are  monitored  on  a  regular  basis.  The  Service  Level  Agreement  (SLA)  based  O&M  for BharatNet Phase-I, through professional agencies, has been entrusted to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). For the O&M of Phase-II of BharatNet, the respective Implementing Agencies are responsible for life time maintenance of the network.

Further, the following steps have been taken for effective utilization of BharatNet:

-  Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), the Executing Agency for BharatNet project, has signed about 100 Agreements with Service Providers for utilizing BharatNet Phase-I network in the country.
-  BSNL has developed Franchisee Management System (FMS) for onboarding the franchisees and revenue share partners of BSNL and over 700 franchisees have been inducted so far for utilisation of BharatNet.
-  For  the  Phase-II  of  BharatNet,  the  respective  Implementing  Agencies  are  making  separate efforts for the utilization of the network.
- (c) The State/UT-wise details of the GPs, yet to be made Service Ready under BharatNet are given in Annexure-I .
- (d) Rs. 10,226 crore has been disbursed during the last two years under BharatNet project.

Annexure referred to in Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1779 to be answered on 27.07.2022 State/UT-wise details of the Gram Panchayats (GPs), yet to be made Service Ready under BharatNet

| S. No.   | State/UT                            |   Total Number of GPs |   Number of Service Ready GPs |   Number of GPs yet to be made Service Ready |
|----------|-------------------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar                    |                    70 |                            39 |                                           31 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh*                     |                 13420 |                          2840 |                                        10580 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh                   |                  1796 |                           769 |                                         1027 |
| 4        | Assam                               |                  2664 |                          1511 |                                         1153 |
| 5        | Bihar                               |                  8404 |                          8307 |                                           97 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                          |                    12 |                            12 |                                            0 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh*                       |                 11684 |                          9102 |                                         2582 |
| 8        | Daman &Diu and Dadar & Nagar Haveli |                    38 |                            38 |                                            0 |
| 9        | Goa#                                |                   191 |                             0 |                                          191 |
| 10       | Gujarat*                            |                 14288 |                         14180 |                                          108 |
| 11       | Haryana                             |                  6259 |                          6082 |                                          177 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh                    |                  3616 |                           407 |                                         3209 |
| 13       | Jammu &Kashmir                      |                  4281 |                          1082 |                                         3199 |
| 14       | Jharkhand*                          |                  4395 |                          4291 |                                          104 |
| 15       | Karnataka                           |                  6086 |                          6083 |                                            3 |
| 16       | Kerala                              |                   978 |                           978 |                                            0 |
| 17       | Ladakh                              |                   193 |                           191 |                                            2 |
| 18       | Lakshadweep                         |                    10 |                             9 |                                            1 |
| 19       | Madhya Pradesh                      |                 22841 |                         17692 |                                         5149 |
| 20       | Maharashtra*                        |                 28238 |                         22124 |                                         6114 |
| 21       | Manipur                             |                  2782 |                          1440 |                                         1342 |
| 22       | Meghalaya                           |                  1792 |                           654 |                                         1138 |
| 23       | Mizoram                             |                   762 |                           452 |                                          310 |
| 24       | Nagaland                            |                   983 |                           232 |                                          751 |
| 25       | Odisha*                             |                  6792 |                          6746 |                                           46 |
| 26       | Puducherry                          |                   108 |                            98 |                                           10 |
| 27       | Punjab                              |                 13340 |                         12668 |                                          672 |
| 28       | Rajasthan                           |                 11352 |                          8770 |                                         2582 |
| 29       | Sikkim                              |                   185 |                            20 |                                          165 |
| 30       | Tamil Nadu*$                        |                 12524 |                             0 |                                        12524 |
| 31       | Telangana*                          |                 12769 |                          7972 |                                         4797 |
| 32       | Tripura                             |                  1021 |                           726 |                                          295 |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh                       |                 59365 |                         38010 |                                        21355 |
| 34       | Uttarakhand                         |                  7962 |                          1662 |                                         6300 |
| 35       | West Bengal                         |                  3348 |                          2363 |                                          985 |
|          | Total                               |                264549 |                        177550 |                                        86999 |

Note:

Delhi has no GPs and thus not taken up under BharatNet Project.

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