Lok Sabha Question No. 2849 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-15
Subject: PMGDISHA Centres
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Rajendra Agrawal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2849

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 15.12.2021

## PMGDISHA CENTRES

## 2849.    SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a) the details regarding PMGDISHA centres currently operational all over the country;
- (b) whether the classes conducted have been adversely affected due to Covid and if so, the steps taken by the Government to resume the regular training at these centres;
- (c) the details of the employment opportunities available to the students enrolled in above said centres; and
- (d) the details of the measures that have been taken to improve and monitor the quality of training under PMGDISHA?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a): Under the PMGDISHA scheme, more than 2.32 lakh training centres are currently operational at the Gram Panchayat level. The State-wise details of these centres 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:

- a. Standard  Operating  Procedures  (SOPs)  in-line  with  the  Covid-19  protocols  were created and shared with all Training Centres for training and examination.
- b. Virtual sessions and workshops were conducted with the Training Centres to motivate them to re-start their activities
- c. Refresher training were provided to registered/ trained candidates, who were unable to appear for training and/or certification.
- d. A Chatbot was created with basic information on PMGDISHA portal which was made available in both in Hindi and English languages.
- e. Training Centres were encouraged to join groups on popular social media platforms and share relevant training material through these groups.
- f. 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.
7. (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, smartphones, 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.
8. (d):   The scheme implementation is continuously reviewed through central as well as state teams of the implementing agency under the overall supervision of the Ministry. Some of the measures undertaken in this regard are given below:
- Standardized multimedia content in 22 Languages has been made available and accessible in multimodal format for all candidates.
- Only  those  who  possess  prescribed  educational  qualifications  are  engaged  as Trainers.
- Requisite/prescribed IT infrastructure is ensured at the Training Centres.
- The training centres are monitored, trained and re-trained for maintaining quality.
- Banking/Insurance/G2C/B2C and other services are made available at the centres for use by trainees.

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## Annexure

| S.N.   | State                       | Operational Training Centres under PMGDISHA as on 9.12.2021   |
|--------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1      | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 29                                                            |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh              | 12,013                                                        |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh           | 190                                                           |
| 4      | Assam                       | 2,569                                                         |
| 5      | Bihar                       | 7,784                                                         |
| 6      | Chhattisgarh                | 10,700                                                        |
| 7      | Dadra and Nagar Haveli      | 17                                                            |
| 8      | Daman and Diu               | 16                                                            |
| 9      | Goa                         | 92                                                            |
| 10     | Gujarat                     | 11,870                                                        |
| 11     | Haryana                     | 5,876                                                         |
| 12     | Himachal Pradesh            | 2,556                                                         |
| 13     | Jammu and Kashmir           | 3,560                                                         |
| 14     | Jharkhand                   | 3,742                                                         |
| 15     | Karnataka                   | 5,374                                                         |
| 16     | Kerala                      | 923                                                           |
| 17     | Ladakh                      | 56                                                            |
| 18     | Lakshadweep                 | 3                                                             |
| 19     | Madhya Pradesh              | 22,046                                                        |
| 20     | Maharashtra                 | 27,000                                                        |
| 21     | Manipur                     | 190                                                           |
| 22     | Meghalaya                   | 548                                                           |
| 23     | Mizoram                     | 202                                                           |
| 24     | Nagaland                    | 136                                                           |
| 25     | Odisha                      | 7,066                                                         |
| 26     | Puducherry                  | 92                                                            |
| 27     | Punjab                      | 12,931                                                        |
| 28     | Rajasthan                   | 8,834                                                         |
| 29     | Sikkim                      | 34                                                            |
| 30     | Tamil Nadu                  | 12,105                                                        |
| 31     | Telangana                   | 7,486                                                         |
| 32     | Tripura                     | 1,004                                                         |
| 33     | Uttar Pradesh               | 54,550                                                        |
| 34     | Uttarakhand                 | 7,707                                                         |
| 35     | West Bengal                 | 3,137                                                         |
| Total  | Total                       | 2,32,438                                                      |

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