Lok Sabha Question No. 1310 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: Mobile Network Coverage in Tribal Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Adala Prabhakara Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1310 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## MOBILE NETWORK COVERAGE IN TRIBAL AREAS

## 1310.   SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has achieved 100% mobile network coverage in all tribal areas of the country;

- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the details of the tribal areas not having mobile network coverage till date, State-wise; and

(d) the steps taken by the Government to ensure 100% mobile network coverage in all tribal areas?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) As  per  data  provided  from  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs),  Department  of Telecom's field unit and State Governments as of March '2022, out of 1,20,613 villages (villages are as per data of Registrar General of India as of November 2019), with more than 25% tribal population in respective districts, around 1,00,030 (83%) number of villages are having mobile network coverage and 20,583 villages are not having any mobile coverage. The reasons for not having  mobile  network  in  these  villages  include,  inter-alia,  remote  and  tough  terrain,  areas diversely located with scattered population and commercially non-viable operations. The Union Cabinet has approved a project for 4G mobile coverage saturation to cover all such uncovered villages.  The  State/UT  wise  details  of  status  of  mobile  network  coverage  in  tribal  area  of  the country is attached as Annexure-I.

(d) Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) provide telecommunication connectivity  in  the  country  in  a  phased  manner.  Government  through  funding  from  Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is implementing various schemes for providing mobile network coverage in all remaining uncovered villages of the country including the villages of tribal areas to achieve 100% coverage.

Annexure-I

## Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1310 to be answered on 14/12/2022 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Mobile network coverage in tribal areas'

The State/UT wise details of status of mobile network coverage in tribal villages of the country is:-

| Sr No   | State/UT Name                      |   Number of district(with tribal population>25%) |   Number of village | Number of mobile covered village   |   Number of mobile uncovered village |
|---------|------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------------------|------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1       | Andaman &Nicobar Islands           |                                                1 |                 200 | 72                                 |                                  128 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh                     |                                                0 |                   0 |                                    |                                    0 |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                                               16 |                4559 | 2314                               |                                 2245 |
| 4       | Assam                              |                                                7 |                7388 | 6584                               |                                  804 |
| 5       | Bihar                              |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 6       | Chandigarh                         |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh                       |                                               19 |               14119 | 12378                              |                                 1741 |
| 8       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli and Daman& Diu |                                                1 |                  70 | 37                                 |                                   33 |
| 9       | Goa                                |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 10      | Gujarat                            |                                               11 |                5852 | 5600                               |                                  252 |
| 11      | Haryana                            |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 12      | Himachal Pradesh                   |                                                3 |                2772 | 1886                               |                                  886 |
| 13      | Jammu &Kashmir                     |                                                3 |                 819 | 739                                |                                   80 |
| 14      | Jharkhand                          |                                               13 |               16382 | 15001                              |                                 1381 |
| 15      | Karnataka                          |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 16      | Kerala                             |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 17      | Ladakh                             |                                                2 |                 243 | 124                                |                                  119 |
| 18      | Lakshadweep                        |                                                1 |                  27 | 23                                 |                                    4 |
| 19      | Madhya Pradesh                     |                                               19 |               18746 | 17293                              |                                 1453 |
| 20      | Maharashtra                        |                                                5 |                6158 | 4796                               |                                 1362 |
| 21      | Manipur                            |                                                5 |                1137 | 872                                |                                  265 |
| 22      | Meghalaya                          |                                                8 |                5623 | 3583                               |                                 2040 |
| 23      | Mizoram                            |                                                8 |                 771 | 553                                |                                  218 |
| 24      | Nagaland                           |                                               11 |                1535 | 1115                               |                                  420 |
| 25      | NCT of Delhi                       |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 26      | Odisha                             |                                               14 |               24013 | 18240                              |                                 5773 |
| 27      | Puducherry                         |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 28      | Punjab                             |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 29      | Rajasthan                          |                                                6 |                7741 | 6960                               |                                  781 |
| 30      | Sikkim                             |                                                4 |                 461 | 157                                |                                  304 |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu                         |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 32      | Telangana                          |                                                1 |                 358 | 358                                |                                    0 |
| 33      | Tripura                            |                                                5 |                 639 | 418                                |                                  221 |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh                      |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 35      | Uttarakhand                        |                                                0 |                   0 | 0                                  |                                    0 |
| 36      | West Bengal                        |                                                2 |                1000 | 927                                |                                   73 |
| Total   |                                    |                                              165 |              120613 | 100030                             |                                20583 |

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