Lok Sabha Question No. 2311 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-21
Subject: PMGDISHA Centres
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Agatha K. Sangma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2311

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 21.12.2022

## PMGDISHA CENTRES

## 2311.   KUMARI AGATHA K. SANGMA:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  of  PMGDISHA  centres  currently  operational  all  over  the  country,  State/UT-wise particularly village-wise distribution in North Eastern Region;
- (b) the number of classes held since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the protocols in place, if any, to resume the regular training at these centres and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of the employment opportunities arising out of these class/training?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a):  India  over  the  last  7  years  has  become  a  prominent  nation  in  deploying  technologies  for  the benefit and transforming the lives of its citizens. Keeping this in view, the Government is focusing on providing digital literacy to citizens across the country, especially in rural areas.  In line with this, the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was approved in February 2017 to usher in digital literacy in rural India with a target to cover 6 crore rural households (one person per household). To ensure equitable geographical coverage across the country, a Gram Panchayat centric approach has been adopted under the scheme. Hence, the targets are assigned and monitored for each of the Gram Panchayats in the country and not at village level. Under the scheme, more than 4.24 lakh training centers are currently operational at the Gram Panchayat level. The State-wise details of these centers including the centers available in the North Eastern Region are at Annexure .

(b): During the peak of Covid-19 pandemic, the Training Centres were not operational in line with the guidelines/directives issued by the respective Central/State/District Administration. In line with the relaxation provided by these authorities in the lockdown conditions, the Centres have been made operational in a graded fashion by the implementing agency.

Following measures were taken by the Implementing Agency to resume the training:

-  Standard  Operating  Procedures  (SOPs)  in-line  with  the  Covid-19  protocols  were  created  and shared with all Training Centres for training and examination.
-  Virtual sessions and workshops were conducted with the Training Centres to motivate them to re-start their activities
-  Refresher trainings were provided to registered/ trained candidates, who were unable to appear for training and/or certification.
-  A Chatbot was created with basic information on PMGDISHA portal which was made available in both in Hindi and English languages.
-  Training Centres were encouraged to join groups on popular social media platforms and share relevant training material through these groups.
-  PMGDISHA content was uploaded on the DigiShala channel so that candidates could refer to these on their own and become ready for registration and assessment after minor training/revision.

(c): The scheme is aimed at imparting basic digital literacy skills to the digitally illiterate population in rural India through a 20 hour training programme. The trained persons are expected to be able to operate computers/digital access devices (like tablets, smart-phones, etc.), send and receive emails, browse  the  internet,  access  Government  Services,  search  for  information,  undertake  cashless transactions, etc. However, as the Scheme is aimed at providing digital literacy to the rural citizens, it enables them for further employment opportunities especially for the younger beneficiaries.

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## Annexure

| S. No.   | State                       | Operational Training Centres under PMGDISHA as on 15.12.2022   |
|----------|-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 101                                                            |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh              | 18,082                                                         |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh           | 285                                                            |
| 4        | Assam                       | 13,754                                                         |
| 5        | Bihar                       | 35,870                                                         |
| 6        | Chandigarh                  | 102                                                            |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                | 14,104                                                         |
| 8        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli      | 54                                                             |
| 9        | Daman and Diu               | 35                                                             |
| 10       | Delhi                       | 81                                                             |
| 11       | Goa                         | 350                                                            |
| 12       | Gujarat                     | 18,879                                                         |
| 13       | Haryana                     | 11,115                                                         |
| 14       | Himachal Pradesh            | 4,623                                                          |
| 15       | Jammu and Kashmir           | 5,084                                                          |
| 16       | Jharkhand                   | 10,660                                                         |
| 17       | Karnataka                   | 14,163                                                         |
| 18       | Kerala                      | 1,855                                                          |
| 19       | Lakshadweep                 | 5                                                              |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh              | 33,929                                                         |
| 21       | Maharashtra                 | 53,032                                                         |
| 22       | Manipur                     | 409                                                            |
| 23       | Meghalaya                   | 1,851                                                          |
| 24       | Mizoram                     | 432                                                            |
| 25       | Nagaland                    | 260                                                            |
| 26       | Odisha                      | 12,834                                                         |
| 27       | Puducherry                  | 231                                                            |
| 28       | Punjab                      | 17,305                                                         |
| 29       | Rajasthan                   | 20,727                                                         |
| 30       | Sikkim                      | 132                                                            |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu                  | 16,203                                                         |
| 32       | Telangana                   | 9,266                                                          |
| 33       | Tripura                     | 1,413                                                          |
| 34       | Uttarakhand                 | 10,622                                                         |
| 35       | Uttar Pradesh               | 87,427                                                         |
| 36       | West Bengal                 | 8,858                                                          |
| 37       | Ladakh                      | 219                                                            |
|          | Total                       | 4,24,352                                                       |

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