Lok Sabha Question No. 2974 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: BharatNet Scheme
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Rajiv Pratap Rudy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2974

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 03.08.2022

## BHARATNET SCHEME

## 2974.  SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY:

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

- (a) whether the last mile connectivity is done by the  Common Services Centres (CSCs) in several States in the BharatNet scheme and if so, the details thereof including the number of CSCs established, State/UTwise, along with their functioning;
- (b) whether CSC Special Purpose Vehicle has been set up to execute the establishing of optical fibre network in the Panchayats and villages across the country and if so, the details thereof along with the progress made in this regard, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether it is a fact that CSCs have to coordinate with BSNL to provide last mile connectivity and if so, the details thereof along with the number of locations connected to internet at Panchayats level, State/UTwise; and (d) whether there have been reports that CSCs in Bihar have been unsuccessful in providing last mile internet connectivity, with special reference to Saran district, if so, the details and if not, the reasons therefor with the revenue generated?

## ANSWER

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

- (a): The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is implementing the BharatNet project for providing the last mile  connectivity  to  all  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  of  the  country.  As  part  of  this  project,  CSC  e-Governance Services  India  Limited  -a  Special  Purpose  Vehicle  (CSC-SPV)had  been  assigned  to  provide  the  last  mile connectivity, through 1Wi-Fi Access Point and 5 FTTH in about 77,115 GPs. As of now, 85717Wi-Fi Access Points and 126301 FTTH connections have been installed in these GPs. The state-wise details are in Annexure-I
- (b): CSC-SPV  were  primarily  set  up  to  manage  the  ecosystem  of  CSCs  for  their  execution/operations  and functioning for extending governance in public services viz Aadhaar Card registration, PAN Card registration, booking  for  train  and  air  tickets,  bank-related  information/Financial  Inclusion  Services,  Educational  Services, G2C/B2C services, Healthcare services etc, to every citizen. However, CSC-SPV was assigned a pilot project for laying overhead optical fiber from GPs to villages in Bihar only under BharatNet project in October; 2020. Under this project, CSC has connected 30953 villages out of the total target of 32268 villages. In these villages, more than 28,599 Wi-Fi Access Points and 35,084 FTTH connections have been provided in Govt Institution in these villages.
- (c): Yes Sir. CSC-SPV has to coordinate with various agencies including Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) forstable  backhaul  and  other  maintenance  issues  such  as;  optical  fibre  faults,  batteries  maintenance,  airconditioning, Solar power system, etc at block level.

State/UT wise details of GPs where Wi-Fi Access Points have been installed and FTTH connections provided by CSCSPV is given in Annexure-I .

(d):  Under the pilot project in Bihar, CSC-SPV has provided more than 28,599 Wi-Fi Access Points and 35,084 FTTH connections to Govt Institution in these villages. Out of these, 1372 Wi-Fi Access Points and 1480 FTTH connections are in Saran District. Progress has been less than the desired pace due to disconnection of Internet Leased Line from many locations by BSNL because of non-payment by CSC-SPV (due to non-receipt of fund to CSC-SPV from Universal Services Obligation Fund under DoT (USOF-DoT). As a result, hardly any revenue is being generated now from these connections.

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| S.No   | STATE                  | No of AP Installed   |   No. of FTTH Connections Provided in Govt. Institutions |
|--------|------------------------|----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| 1      | ANDHRA PRADESH         | 1570                 |                                                     2363 |
| 2      | ASSAM                  |                      |                                                      913 |
| 3      | BIHAR                  | 28599                |                                                    35084 |
| 4      | CHHATTISGARH           | 3158                 |                                                     9026 |
| 5      | DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI | 21                   |                                                       14 |
| 6      | DAMANAND DIU           | 20                   |                                                       13 |
| 7      | GUJARAT                | 3948                 |                                                    11764 |
| 8      | HARYANA                | 4923                 |                                                    10042 |
| 9      | HIMACHAL PRADESH       | 89                   |                                                      362 |
| 10     | JAMMU AND KASHMIR      | 373                  |                                                      288 |
| 11     | JHARKHAND              | 2126                 |                                                     1606 |
| 12     | KARNATAKA              | 3047                 |                                                     2782 |
| 13     | KERALA                 | 319                  |                                                      115 |
| 14     | MADHYA PRADESH         | 10190                |                                                     6634 |
| 15     | MAHARASHTRA            | 11898                |                                                    18927 |
| 16     | Manipur                |                      |                                                        8 |
| 17     | Meghalaya              |                      |                                                        2 |
| 18     | ODISHA                 | 2400                 |                                                     5218 |
| 19     | Puducherry             |                      |                                                       62 |
| 20     | PUNJAB                 | 7934                 |                                                    12652 |
| 21     | TELANGANA              | 1997                 |                                                     1879 |
| 22     | TRIPURA                | 492                  |                                                     1156 |
| 23     | Uttar Pradesh East     |                      |                                                      525 |
| 24     | Uttar Pradesh West     |                      |                                                      547 |
| 25     | UTTARAKHAND            | 898                  |                                                     3072 |
| 26     | WEST BENGAL            | 1715                 |                                                     1247 |
|        | Grand Total            | 85717                |                                                   126301 |

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