Lok Sabha Question No. 2672 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-04
Subject: Communication Services in Tribal and LWE Affected Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Sukanta Majumdar, Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Bhola Singh, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2672 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  AUGUST, 2021

## COMMUNICATION SERVICES IN TRIBAL AND LWE AFFECTED AREAS

## 2672.   SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BHAIYA): SHRI BHOLA SINGH: DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether tribal and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas of the country are lagging behind when compared with other parts of the country in communication indicators like tele density, quality of services and network coverage, etc.;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  target  achieved  by  the  Government  in  terms  of  aforementioned  communication  indicators during each of the last three years, State/UT-wise including the region of Bolangir in Odisha;
- (d) whether the Government has taken any new initiatives for the expansion of telecom services in tribal and LWE affected areas including the region of Bolangir, Odisha;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the other steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (f) the funds allocated/released/utilized by the Government in the said regions during the last three years?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been monitoring the performance of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) against the  benchmarks,  for  various  Quality  of  Service  parameters, laid  down  by  TRAI,  by  way  of  Quality  of  Service  regulations,  issued  from  time  to  time,  through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs). The performance is assessed for a License Service Area (LSA) as a whole. Separate information on performance on Quality of Services in District or in a particular area such as Tribal and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas is not available.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) does not maintain Tribal/LWE area-wise tele-density data. However, service area-wise rural and urban tele-density for last three years and current year as on dated 31.05.2021, is given at Annexure-I.

However, DoT on the basis of a survey carried out in 2020, has estimated that around 5,72,551 out  of  5,97,618  inhabited  census  villages  of  the  country  which  also  includes  tribal  and  LWE  affected areas, already have mobile network coverage, while 25,067 inhabited villages do not have the coverage. The Government through TSPs provide mobile network coverage in uncovered villages in the country in a phased manner. State-wise details of number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) installed by TSPs, to increase the mobile network coverage and capacity, in LWE affected districts are given at Annexure-II. To increase the mobile network coverage and capacity in Bolangir district of Odisha; 418, 312 & 113 number of BTSs have been installed by TSPs during Financial Year 2019, 2020 & 2021 respectively. Under BharatNet project, 259 number of Gram Panchayats(GP) have also been made service ready during Financial Years 2020 & 2021 in Bolangir, Odisha.

(d) to (f) The Government through various schemes/projects under Universal Service  Obligation Fund  (USOF)  namely,  (i)  LWE  (Phase-I  &II)  projects,  (ii)  Aspirational  districts' scheme,  (iii) Commissioning  of  submarine  Optical  Fibre  Cable  connectivity  from  Chennai  to  Andaman  &Nicobar Islands, (iv) scheme for connecting submarine Optical Fibre Cable from Kochi to Lakshadweep Islands, (v)  BharatNet  (Phase  -  I  &II)  projects,  (vi)  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  (CTDP)  for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region, (vii) Provision of 4G Mobile Coverage in uncovered villages  and  seamless  4G  Mobile  coverage  of  National  Highway  (NH  -  223)  in  Andaman  &  Nicobar Islands, etc.; is providing mobile and internet services in rural areas (which also includes tribal and LWE affected areas) in the country. The details of Scheme/Programme-wise disbursement of funds from USOF during the last three financial years (2019 to 2021), is given at Annexure-III.

The details of LWE Phase-I & II for the expansion of Telecom Services in LWE affected areas including the region of Bolangir, Odisha are as below:

-  For provision of mobile services in LWE affected areas under Phase-I, the project has been completed by  installing  2,343  towers.  Under  LWE  Phase-I,  mobile  towers  at  Mahakhanda  and  Magurbeda locations in Bolangir, Odisha have been installed and are providing services.
-  For the expansion of Telecom services in tribal and LWE affected areas, Government has approved the  LWE  Phase-II  Scheme.  Under  this  scheme,  2542  number  of  mobile  towers  at  the  locations identified by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) are to be provisioned, including 483 mobile towers in the State of Odisha (Bolangir is not provisioned under this scheme).

As on dated 09.07.2021, under BharatNet Phase-I & II, a total number of 1,57,919 GPs have been made service ready in the country. The scope of BharatNet has been recently extended upto all inhabited villages beyond GPs.

Moreover, DoT has taken several policy initiatives to facilitate infrastructure growth, for delivery of quality services. These include permitting trading/sharing/liberalisation of spectrum, permitting passive &  active  infrastructure  sharing,  notification  of  Right  of  Way  Rules  -  2016,  making  government land/buildings  available for installations  of  towers,  etc.  Nearly,  16.14  lakh  additional  BTSs  for 2G/3G/4G-LTE services have been added by TSPs during the period from March-2014 (6.49 lakh BTSs) to 27 th July 2021 (22.64 lakh BTSs) across the country.

Annexure-I

## Annexure-I  referred  to  in  Part  (a)  to  (c)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  2672  for 04.08.2021

| Sr. No.   | Service area         | 31.03.2019   | 31.03.2019   | 31.03.2020   | 31.03.2020   | 31.03.2021   | 31.03.2021   | 31.05.2021   | 31.05.2021   |
|-----------|----------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| Sr. No.   | Service area         | Rural        | Urban        | Rural        | Urban        | Rural        | Urban        | Rural        | Urban        |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       | 64.96        | 181.15       | 66.05        | 179.35       | 82.59        | 125.04       | 82.71        | 121.87       |
| 2         | Assam                | 42.36        | 199.72       | 49.39        | 170.31       | 52.82        | 170.52       | 53.33        | 170.50       |
| 3         | Bihar                | 45.55        | 149.09       | 45.49        | 142.72       | 41.54        | 119.71       | 41.78        | 116.44       |
| 4         | Gujarat              | 71.11        | 155.35       | 70.98        | 146.32       | 76.62        | 123.36       | 76.01        | 124.41       |
| 5         | Haryana              | 70.82        | 142.00       | 71.26        | 136.37       | 71.82        | 128.99       | 72.06        | 129.51       |
| 6         | Himachal Pradesh     | 114.29       | 378.46       | 114.24       | 395.72       | 113.87       | 490.11       | 113.73       | 480.36       |
| 7         | Jammu &Kashmir       | 56.19        | 172.73       | 62.53        | 168.24       | 59.18        | 158.50       | 59.65        | 154.00       |
| 8         | Karnataka            | 62.23        | 182.15       | 74.13        | 158.84       | 72.96        | 148.59       | 74.60        | 143.73       |
| 9         | Kerala               | 76.85        | 272.53       | 76.55        | 261.98       | 199.48       | 101.18       | 202.58       | 101.78       |
| 10        | Madhya Pradesh       | 44.12        | 137.10       | 43.77        | 134.83       | 43.46        | 133.59       | 43.33        | 134.27       |
| 11        | Maharashtra          | 68.34        | 133.80       | 68.16        | 130.05       | 67.92        | 147.49       | 67.15        | 147.20       |
| 12        | North East           | 44.30        | 198.62       | 53.33        | 168.53       | 61.61        | 119.74       | 62.43        | 118.32       |
| 13        | Odisha               | 60.27        | 144.73       | 62.62        | 137.98       | 62.73        | 147.63       | 63.54        | 145.72       |
| 14        | Punjab               | 78.37        | 181.51       | 78.56        | 176.04       | 76.05        | 189.54       | 74.98        | 190.39       |
| 15        | Rajasthan            | 57.60        | 171.59       | 61.34        | 161.97       | 62.36        | 145.07       | 62.09        | 141.94       |
| 16        | Tamil Nadu           | 85.94        | 135.30       | 98.80        | 124.90       | 68.67        | 143.05       | 68.40        | 143.33       |
| 17        | Uttar Pradesh (East) |              |              |              |              |              |              |              |              |
| 18        | Uttar Pradesh (West) | 49.22        | 132.63       | 45.22        | 134.86       | 51.18        | 120.84       | 50.91        | 121.37       |
| 19        | West Bengal          | 54.19        | 172.51       | 49.67        | 174.12       | 54.93        | 113.53       | 54.79        | 116.42       |
| 20        | Kolkata              | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            |
| 21        | Delhi                | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            |
| 22        | Mumbai               | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            | #            |
|           | All- India           | 57.50        | 159.66       | 57.87        | 153.68       | 60.17        | 141.29       | 60.14        | 140.30       |

# Rural and Urban breakup of population of Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai service area is not available.

## Annexure-II  referred  to  in  Part  (a)  to  (c)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  2672  for 04.08.2021

| Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts   | Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts   | Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts                     | Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts                     | Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts                     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                      | Name of the State                                           | Financial Year-wise Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts | Financial Year-wise Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts | Financial Year-wise Number of BTSs installed by TSPs in LWEaffected Districts |
| S. No.                                                      | Name of the State                                           | 2018-2019                                                                     | 2019-2020                                                                     | 2020-2021                                                                     |
| 1                                                           | Andhra Pradesh                                              | 7065                                                                          | 4172                                                                          | 2460                                                                          |
| 2                                                           | Bihar                                                       | 9257                                                                          | 6890                                                                          | 3558                                                                          |
| 3                                                           | Chhattisgarh                                                | 4371                                                                          | 1174                                                                          | 2738                                                                          |
| 4                                                           | Jharkhand                                                   | 8861                                                                          | 6212                                                                          | 4271                                                                          |
| 5                                                           | Madhya Pradesh                                              | 672                                                                           | 512                                                                           | 133                                                                           |
| 6                                                           | Maharashtra                                                 | 1402                                                                          | 1010                                                                          | 505                                                                           |
| 7                                                           | Odisha                                                      | 3570                                                                          | 2607                                                                          | 1423                                                                          |
| 8                                                           | Telangana                                                   | 2913                                                                          | 1327                                                                          | 771                                                                           |
| 9                                                           | Uttar Pradesh                                               | 1448                                                                          | 1548                                                                          | 899                                                                           |
| 10                                                          | West Bengal                                                 | 543                                                                           | 300                                                                           | 102                                                                           |
| 11                                                          | Kerala                                                      | 2754                                                                          | 1515                                                                          | 1046                                                                          |

## Annexure-III  referred  to  in  Part  (d)  to  (f)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  2672  for 04.08.2021

| Scheme/Programme-wise disbursement of funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three Financial years (2019 to 2021)   | Scheme/Programme-wise disbursement of funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three Financial years (2019 to 2021)   | Scheme/Programme-wise disbursement of funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three Financial years (2019 to 2021)   | Scheme/Programme-wise disbursement of funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three Financial years (2019 to 2021)   | Scheme/Programme-wise disbursement of funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three Financial years (2019 to 2021)   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                                                                                                               | Name of Schemes                                                                                                                       | Figures in Crore (Rs.)                                                                                                                | Figures in Crore (Rs.)                                                                                                                | Figures in Crore (Rs.)                                                                                                                |
| Sl. No.                                                                                                                               | Name of Schemes                                                                                                                       | 2018-19                                                                                                                               | 2019-20                                                                                                                               | 2020-21                                                                                                                               |
| 1                                                                                                                                     | Setting up of 25000 Wi-Fi at Rural Exchanges of BSNL                                                                                  | ---                                                                                                                                   | 128.45                                                                                                                                | 115.64                                                                                                                                |
| 2                                                                                                                                     | BharatNet                                                                                                                             | 4145.54                                                                                                                               | 1657.74                                                                                                                               | 5919.79                                                                                                                               |
| 3                                                                                                                                     | Impact Assessment                                                                                                                     | ---                                                                                                                                   | 0.15                                                                                                                                  | ---                                                                                                                                   |
| 4                                                                                                                                     | Provision of Mobile Services in Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas                                                                    | 414.31                                                                                                                                | 459.79                                                                                                                                | 305.03                                                                                                                                |
| 5                                                                                                                                     | Mobile Services in Assam &Sikkim (BAL)                                                                                                | ---                                                                                                                                   | 170.25                                                                                                                                | 93.53                                                                                                                                 |
| 6                                                                                                                                     | Mobile Services in NER (BHL)                                                                                                          | ---                                                                                                                                   | 182.85                                                                                                                                | 187.25                                                                                                                                |
| 7                                                                                                                                     | Village Public Telephones in uncovered villages (New VPT-2)                                                                           | 8.48                                                                                                                                  | 22.15                                                                                                                                 | 0.02                                                                                                                                  |
| 8                                                                                                                                     | Augmentation, Creation and Management of Optical Fibre Network in Assam                                                               | 6.12                                                                                                                                  | ---                                                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                                                   |
| 9                                                                                                                                     | Rural Household Direct Exchange Lines installed after 01.04.2007 (RDEL-X)                                                             | 18.04                                                                                                                                 | ---                                                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                                                   |
| 10                                                                                                                                    | Augmentation of Satellite Bandwidth in Andaman& Nicobar                                                                               | 56.00                                                                                                                                 | 38.06                                                                                                                                 | 27.84                                                                                                                                 |
| 11                                                                                                                                    | Augmentation of Satellite Bandwidth in Lakshadweep                                                                                    | 39.66                                                                                                                                 | ---                                                                                                                                   | 22.86                                                                                                                                 |
| 12                                                                                                                                    | Provision of Submarine OFC connectivity in A&N Islands                                                                                | 93.25                                                                                                                                 | 259.22                                                                                                                                | 512.80                                                                                                                                |
| 13                                                                                                                                    | Setting up Ten 2G BTS in Lakshadweep                                                                                                  | ---                                                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                                                   | 9.21                                                                                                                                  |
| 14                                                                                                                                    | 354 uncovered villages                                                                                                                | ---                                                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                                                   | 0.52                                                                                                                                  |
| 15                                                                                                                                    | Setting up of Wi-Fi at Railway Stations by Rail Tel                                                                                   | 2.01                                                                                                                                  | 0.91                                                                                                                                  | 5.46                                                                                                                                  |
| 16                                                                                                                                    | Rural Wireline Broadband                                                                                                              | 4.81                                                                                                                                  | 6.41                                                                                                                                  | 0.06                                                                                                                                  |
|                                                                                                                                       | Grand Total                                                                                                                           | 4788.22                                                                                                                               | 2926.00                                                                                                                               | 7200.00                                                                                                                               |

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