Lok Sabha Question No. 44 (STARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Accessible IT Services
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *44

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 20.07.2022

## ACCESSIBILE IT SERVICES

## *44.    PROF. RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI: DR. HEENA GAVIT:

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

- (a) the  salient  features  of  schemes  being  implemented  by  the  Government  to  make Information Technology (IT) more accessible in the country;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  effort  to  make  IT  accessible  to  the  people residing in rural, hilly and remote areas;
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  that  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  Madhya  Pradesh  and Maharashtra;
- (d) whether effective steps are being taken/proposed to be taken for decentralisation of the IT services in the country; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  *44 FOR 20.07.2022 REGARDING  ACCESSIBILE IT SERVICES

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- (a):  The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India launched  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 is an umbrella programme  that  covers  multiple  projects  of  various  Central  Ministries/Departments  and States/UTs. The Digital India programme is centred on three key vision areas namely Digital Infrastructure as a Core Utility to Every Citizen, Governance and Services on Demand and Digital Empowerment of Citizens. Digital India has dramatically reduced distance between Government and citizens significantly. Further, Digital India has also helped in delivery of substantial services directly to the beneficiaries in a transparent and corruption free manner.
- (b): Some of the key initiatives taken by the Government to make Information Technology accessible to the people residing in rural, hilly and remote areas of the country including state of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are given below.
-  Common Services Centre (CSC): MeitY initiated a project namely 'Common Services Centre  (CSC)  2.0'  in  August,  2015  under  Digital  India  Programme,  which  envisages setting up of at least one CSC at Gram Panchayat (GP) level to cover all the 2.5 lakh GPs across  the  country.  Common  Services  Centres  are  internet  enabled  centres  operated  by local entrepreneurs, called Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) and provide eServices to rural citizens. Over 400 digital services are being offered by these CSCs. As on 30 th June, 2022, the number of functional CSCs (including urban & rural areas) across the Country is 5.31 Lakh CSCs, out of which, 4.20 Lakh CSCs are functional at Gram Panchayat level.
-  Digital Village: MeitY initiated the 'Digital Village Pilot Project' in October, 2018. 700 Gram  Panchayats/  Villages  with  atleast  one  Gram  Panchayat/  Village  per  District  per State/UT  are  being  covered  under  the  project.  The  digital  services  being  offered  are Digital Health Services (Tele-Health & Tele-Veterinary consultation), Education Services, Financial Services, Skill Development, Solar panel powered street lights and Government to Citizens Services (G2C), Business to Citizen (B2C) Services.
-  e-District  Mission  Mode  Project  (MMP): e-District  project  has  been  implemented  at district  and  sub-district  levels  of  all  States/UTs,  benefitting  all  citizens  by  delivering various e-Services such as Certificates (Birth, Caste, Death, Income and Local Resident), Pension  (Old  Age,  Disability  and  Widow),  Electoral,  Consumer  Court,  Revenue  Court, Land Record and services of various departments such as Commercial Tax, Agriculture, Labour, Employment Training & Skill Development etc. Presently 4,671 e-services have been launched in 709 districts across India.
-  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).  To  ensure  equitable  geographical  reach,  it  has been envisaged that each of the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats across the country will register an  average  of  200-300  candidates.  So  far,  a  total  of  around  6.16  crore  candidates  have been enrolled and 5.25 crore have been trained, out of which 3.89 crore candidates have been certified under the PMGDISHA Scheme.
-  BharatNet: BharatNet is an ambitious initiative to trigger a broadband revolution in rural areas.  This  project  is  being  implemented  by  Department  of  Telecommunications  in  a phased  manner  to  provide  broadband  connectivity  to  all  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  in  the country. As on 04.07.2022, a total number of 1,77,550 GPs have been made service ready in  the  country.  The  scope  of  BharatNet  has  been  recently  extended  up  to  all  inhabited villages beyond Gram Panchayats in the country.

(c):    Status  of  implementation  of  key  initiatives  in  the  States  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra is as follows:

## Uttar Pradesh:

- (i). Common  Services  Centers  (CSCs):  1,25,153  CSCs  are  functional.  Out  of  them, 99,450 CSCs are functional at Gram Panchayat (GP) level.
- (ii). Digital Village: 75 Gram Panchayats/ Villages from Uttar Pradesh have been covered under the pilot project for Digital Village.
- (iii). e-District Mission Mode Project (MMP): 258 e-services have been launched in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
- (iv). Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyaan  (PMGDISHA):  In  the  state  of Uttar Pradesh, training has been imparted to 1,36,82,969 candidates  out  of  which 1,03,26,882 candidates have been certified.
- (v). BharatNet: 38,010 Gram Panchayats have been made service ready with broadband infrastructure under BharatNet project.

## Madhya Pradesh

- (i). Common Services Centers (CSCs): 44,487 CSCs are functional. Out of them, 33,735 CSCs are functional at Gram Panchayat (GP) level.
- (ii). Digital  Village:    51  Gram  Panchayats/  Villages  from  Madhya  Pradesh  have  been covered under the pilot project for Digital Village.
- (iii). e-District  Mission  Mode  Project  (MMP):  313  e-services  have  been  launched  in  52 districts of Madhya Pradesh.
- (iv). Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyaan  (PMGDISHA):  In  the  state  of Madhya Pradesh,  training  has  been  imparted  to  45,49,136  candidates  out  of  which 33,54,694 candidates have been certified.
- (i) BharatNet: 17,692 Gram Panchayats have been made service ready with broadband infrastructure under BharatNet project.

## Maharashtra

- (i). Common Services Centers (CSCs):  60,644 CSCs are functional. Out of them, 47,121 CSCs are functional at Gram Panchayat level.
- (ii). Digital Village: 34 Gram Panchayats/ Villages from Maharashtra  have been covered under the pilot project for Digital Village.
- (iii). e-District Mission Mode Project (MMP): 389 e-services have been launched in all 36 districts of Maharashtra.
- (iv). Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyaan  (PMGDISHA):  In  the  state  of Maharashtra,  training  has  been  imparted  to  38,92,872  candidates  out  of  which 27,90,623 candidates have been certified.
- (v). BharatNet:  22,124  Gram  Panchayats  have  been  made  service  ready  with  broadband infrastructure under BharatNet project.

(d)  and  (e): Digital  India  also  actively  advocates  and  works  with  State  Governments  for development of technology & entrepreneurship in various Tier-2 & Tier-3 towns of India led by  organizations  like  Software  Technology  Park  of  India  (STPI)  &  National  Institute  of Electronics  &  Information  Technology  (NIELIT).  Further,  National  Informatics  Centre (NIC), an attached office of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), has its  State  Centres  at  State  level  and  District  level  all  over  India.  These  State  and  District Centres continuously guide and assist various State & District level Government Offices in developing  and  implementing  various  ICT  applications.  NIC  also  provides  various  citizen centric services through its products and platforms such as e-Hospital,         e-Counseling, Service  plus,  e-Transport,  Jeevan  Pramaan,  National  Scholarship  Portal  etc  for  fulfilling aspirations  of  the  citizens.    Further,  any  citizen  can  access  digital  services  on  UMANG Mobile  App  and  also  through  Common  Services  Centers  in  assisted  mode  as  Common Services Centers have vast network which provide digital services delivery in villages.