Lok Sabha Question No. 3526 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-22
Subject: Digital India Scheme
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Ajay Kumar Mandal, Locket Chatterjee, Sunil Kumar Pintu, Rama Devi, Vijay Kumar Dubey, Ramesh Chander Kaushik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3526

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 22.03.2023

## DIGITAL INDIA SCHEME

## †3526. SHRI AJAY KUMAR MANDAL:

MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU:

SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

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

- (a) the status of implementation of 'Digital India' Scheme in the country State/UT-wise especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar;
- (b) whether all the villages and towns in remote areas of the country have been connected with the basic communications/internet services;
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  Parliamentary  Constituency  of  Hugli, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Bhagalpur and Sonepat in this regard;
- (d) if not, the reasons along with the time by which it is likely to be connected; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  is  providing  internet  facilities  to  all  the  villages  keeping online classes in view to educate the youth of the country particularly the youth from rural areas?

## ANSWER

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

(a): Government has launched the Digital India programme with the vision of transforming India  into  a  digitally  empowered  society  and  a  knowledge-based  economy,  by  ensuring digital  access,  digital  inclusion,  digital  empowerment  and  bridging  the  digital  divide.  The 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. The  overall  goal  is  to  ensure  that  digital  technologies  improve  the  life  of  every  citizen, expand  India's  digital  economy,  and  create  investment  and  employment  opportunities  and digital technological capabilities in India.

Digital  India  has  considerably  bridged  the  distance  between  Government  and  citizens  and enhanced trust on government and governance. It has also helped in the delivery of services directly to beneficiaries in a transparent and corruption-free manner. In the process, India has emerged as one of the pre-eminent nations of the world to use technology to transform the lives  of  its  citizens.  Details  of  some  of  the  key  initiatives  under  Digital  India  are  at Annexure-I.

Several schemes/projects are being implemented under Digital India programme for creating awareness and providing digital facilities to citizens in all States and Union territories (UTs), including those in the States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Such digital facilities in the State of Uttar Pradesh include about 1.2 lakh functional Common Service Centres (CSCs), the imparting of health, education, financial inclusion awareness and skill development related services in one village in each of the 75 districts in the State under the Digital  Village pilot project, 258  citizen-centric e-services under the e-District Mission

Mode project and certification of 1.09 crore persons under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) for functional digital literacy.

Similarly, such digital facilities in the State of  Bihar include about54,356 functional CSCs, the  imparting  of  health,  education,  financial  inclusion  awareness  and  skill  development related services in one village in each of the 38 districts in the State under the Digital Village pilot  project,  89  citizen-centric  e-services  under  the  e-District  Mission  Mode  project  and certification of 48.7 lakh persons under PMGDISHA for functional digital literacy.

In  addition,  citizens  across  the  country,  including  in  both  the  said  States,have  also  been enabled to access e-services under various initiatives, such as Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG), DigiLocker, e-Hospital and MyGov.

(b) to (e): Basic communication / Internet connectivity is provided in the country by Telecom Service  Providers  (TSPs)  and  Internet  Service  Providers,  including  in  the  Parliamentary constituencies of Hugli, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Bhagalpur and Sonepat, through wireless mobile and  fixed  wire  line  connections.  As  per  information  furnished  by  the  Department  of Telecommunications  (DoT),  based  on  data  provided  by  TSPs,  DoT's  field  units  and  State Governments, as of March 2022, out of 6,44,131 villages (as of November 2019, as per data of the Registrar General of India) in the country, around 6,05,230 villages are having mobile Internet connectivity. Government has taken various steps to promote Internet connectivity in both wireless and wire line modes. Details of some of the key initiatives undertaken by DoT for improving digital infrastructure and Internet penetration in villages and remote areas of the  country,  including  in  respect  of  the  aforesaid  Parliamentary  constitutencies,  are  at Annexure-II .

*******

## Details of some of the key initiatives under Digital India

|   S.No. | Initiative                                                                                       | Status prior to launch of Digital India programme   | Current status                                                                     | Focus                    |
|---------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
|       1 | Annual e-transactions reported at eTAAL (Electronic Transaction Aggregation and Analysis Layer)* | 264 crore (FY2013-14)                               | 10,786 crore (FY2021-22)                                                           | Digital services         |
|       2 | Unified Payment Interface (launched in 2016)*                                                    | -                                                   | 4,597 crore transactions (FY2021-22)                                               | Digital payment platform |
|       3 | DigiLocker (launched in 2015)*                                                                   | -                                                   |  Over 15 crore users  Over 560 crore issued documents (March 2023)               | Paperless initiative     |
|       4 | Unified Mobile Application for New- age Governance (UMANG) (launched in 2017)*                   | -                                                   | Over 21,800 services of over 300 Central/State Government departments (March 2023) | Mobile governance        |
|       5 | Jeevan Pramaan (launched in November 2014)                                                       | 6.01 lakh certificates *** (FY2014-15)              | Over 7 crore certificates* (March 2023)                                            | Digital life certificate |
|       6 | Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) (launched in 2017)*                   | -                                                   | Over 5.83 crore persons trained (March 2023)                                       | Digital skilling         |
|       7 | MyGov (launched in July 2014)*                                                                   | -                                                   | 3 crore MyGov Saathis (March 2023)                                                 | Citizen engagement       |
|       8 | Functional Common Services Centres**                                                             | 0.84 lakh (May 2014)                                | 5.23 lakh (January 2023)                                                           | Digital services         |
|       9 | e-Hospital (launched in 2014)                                                                    | 6 hospitals onboarded (2014)                        | Over 1,100 hospitals* onboarded (March 2023)                                       | Digital health           |

Sources:

* Respective websites

** CSC e-Governance Services India Limited

*** Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Annual Report 2021-22

Annexure-II

Details of some of the key initiatives undertaken by the Department of Telecommunications for connecting basic communication / Internet services in villages and towns in remote areas of the country

1. BharatNet project, implemented in a phased manner, to provide broadband connectivity to all villages in the country

Government  of  India  is  also  implementing  BharatNet  project  to  provide  broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages of the country. A total number of  1,89,256  GPs,out  of  a  total  of  2,64,388GPs,  have  been  made  service-ready  with broadband infrastructure. Details of GPs planned and service-ready under the project in the Parliamentary constituencies of Hugli, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Bhagalpur and Sonepat are as under:

| Name of Constituency   |   No. of GPs planned (Phase-I+II) |   No. of GPs service ready (Phase-I+II) | BharatNet saturation project (Phase-III)   |
|------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| Hugli                  |                                98 |                                      98 | 109                                        |
| Sitamarhi              |                               221 |                                     221 |                                            |
| Sheohar                |                               207 |                                     207 |                                            |
| Bhagalpur              |                               198 |                                     198 | 4                                          |
| Sonepat                |                               495 |                                     495 | 7                                          |

2. PM WANI framework to accelerate proliferation of Internet services by setting up public Wi-Fi access points across the country
3. 4G  Saturation  Scheme  of  the  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  to  cover  24,680 uncovered  villages  with  4G  connectivity  and  upgrading  2G/3G  connectivity  in  6,279 villages to 4G connectivity
4. Scheme  to  provide  4G  mobile  connectivity  in  502  uncovered  villages  of  Aspirational Districts in four States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
5. Scheme for providing 4G-based mobile service in 7,287 uncovered villages of Aspirational  Districts  of  five  States,  namely,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Chhattisgarh,  Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha
6. Laying  of  submarine  optical  fibre  cable  between  Chennai  and  Andaman  and  Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman and Nicobar Islands
7. Submarine optical fibre connectivity between Kochi and Lakshadweep Islands
8. Mobile  connectivity  to  cover  uncovered  villages  and  along  National  Highway  223  in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
9. Under  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  Phase-I  scheme,  2,343  mobile  towers  have  been installed in LWE areas, including 96 mobile towers in the State of West Bengal, and are providing  services.  Under  LWE  Phase-II  scheme,  2,542  mobile  towers  at  locations identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) are approved across States affected by LWE.
10. Scheme  for  providing  mobile  connectivity  in  354  villages  of  uncovered  border  areas, including  Ladakh and Kargil Region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other priority areas
11. Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region,  to  provide  mobile  coverage  in  uncovered  villages  and  along  the  National Highways
11. ******