Lok Sabha Question No. 2551 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-04
Subject: Digital India Scheme
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: P. C. Mohan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2551

## TO BE ANSWERED ON: 04.08.2021

## DIGITAL INDIA SCHEME

## 2551. SHRI P.C. MOHAN:

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

- (a) the  status  of  implementation  of  'Digital  India'  scheme  in  the  country  especially  with respect to Karnataka and Bengaluru in particular;
- (b) whether  all  villages  and  remote  towns  of  the  country  have  been  covered  by  basic communication/internet services; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor and the time by when the entire country is likely to be covered under the said services?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a):   The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India has initiated the 'Digital India' programme with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered  society  and  knowledge-based  economy  by  ensuring  digital  access,  digital inclusion, digital empowerment and bridging the digital divide. Digital India has dramatically reduced distance between Government and citizens significantly. Further, Digital  India has also helped in delivery of substantial services to citizens with no leakages and directly to the beneficiary.

Digital  India  is  an  umbrella  programme  that  covers  multiple  projects  of  various  central Ministries/Departments & States/UTs. Each project has its own budgetary requirement and accordingly project-plan has been charted out by  the implementing Ministries/Departments and budget details are being maintained by concerned Ministries/Departments & States/UTs. The status of some of the key initiatives undertaken by MeitY under Digital India programme in the state of Karnataka is as follows:

-  Common Services Centre (CSC): The Common Services Centres project aims to set-up at least one CSC at 2.50 lakh Gram Panchayats(GPs) across the country, for delivery of various  Government  to  Citizen(G2C)  and  other  citizen  centric  e-Services.  It  is  a  selfsustainable entrepreneurship model which is run by Village level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). As  on  June,  2021,  total  of  3,99,675  CSCs  are  functional  across  the  country,  of  which,

3,00,955  are  functional  at  Gram  Panchayat  (GP)  level.  In  Karnataka,  9,762  CSCs  are functional  including  urban  &  rural  areas,  of  which,  5,818  CSCs  are  functional  at  Gram Panchayat  level.  In  Benguluru,  727  CSCs  are  functional,  out  of  them,  194  CSCs  are functional at GP level.

-  National Rollout of eDistrict: e-District is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) that aims at electronic delivery of identified high volume citizen centric services at the district or subdistrict level. Total 3,916 e-District services have been launched in 709 districts across 28 States/ 6 UTs.   190  e-services have been launched in all 30 districts of Karnataka.
-  Digital  Village: MeitY  has  also  initiated  the  'Digital  Village  Pilot  Project'  in  October, 2018. 700 Gram Panchayats (GPs)/Villages with at-least one Gram Panchayat/Village per District  per  State/UT  are  being  covered  under  the  project.  The  digital  services  being offered are digital health services, education service, financial services, skill development, solar  panel  powered  street  lights  including  Government  to  Citizen  Services  (G2C)  and Business  to  Citizen  (B2C)  Services.          32  villages  from  Karnataka  have  been  covered under the pilot project for Digital Village implementation.
-  Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyaan  (PMGDISHA): MeitY  is implementing a  scheme  namely  'Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)'  to  usher  in  digital  literacy  in  rural  India  by  covering  6  Crore  rural households (one person per household). So far, training has been imparted to 4.17+ crore candidates  and  out  of  this  more  than  3.08+  crore  candidates  have  been  certified.  In  the state  of  Karnataka,  training  has  been  imparted  to  6,68,251  candidates  and  out  of  this 4,39,647 candidates have been certified.
-  BPO Promotion Scheme: The India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) and North East BPO Promotion  Scheme  (NEBPS)  were  initiated  under  Digital  India  Programme  to  create employment opportunities for the youth of the country by setting up BPO/ITES operation in smaller cities across the country and North Eastern Region. Under IBPS and NEBPS, 252 BPO/ITES units have started operations distributed across more  than 100 locations covering 27 States/UTs providing direct employment to over 42,000 persons. In the State of Karnataka,   11 BPO/ITES units have started operation with direct employment to 1240 persons.  With  a  focus  to  disperse  the  BPO/ITES  industry  to  smaller  cities/towns,  the Urban  Agglomeration  of  7  metropolitan  cities  which  includes  Bengaluru,  are  excluded from the BPO Promotion Scheme.
- (b) and (c): Basic Communication/Internet facility is being provided in rural & remote areas by the Government and the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) through wireless mobile and fixed wireline. It is estimated that out of 5,97,620 inhabited villages (as per Census 2011) in the  country,  a  total  number  of  5,74,309  villages  have  mobile  wireless  coverage.  The remaining  villages  are  being  covered  with  mobile  connectivity  under  schemes  of  the Government and Telecom Service Providers in a phased manner.

Government of India is also implementing BharatNet project to provide broadband to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) (approx. 2,50,000) in the country. As on 09.07.2021, a total number of 1,57,919 GPs including Block Head Quarters (BHQs) have been made service ready with broadband infrastructure.

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