Lok Sabha Question No. 1451 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-10
Subject: Internet Services in Villages
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1451 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 TH  FEBRUARY, 2021

## INTERNET SERVICES IN VILLAGES

## 1451.   SHRI RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  of  villages  which  are  not  connected  with  internet  services  in  the  country, especially in Andhra Pradesh;
- (b) the  time  by  which  each  and  every  village  in  the  country  is  expected  to  get  internet connectivity;
- (c) the funds allocated/released/utilized and financial assistance given by the Government during the last three years for the said purpose, State/UT-wise;
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to increase digital literacy in rural areas; and
- (e) the funds allocated and the financial assistance given by the Government during the last three years to increase digital literacy?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, EDUCATION AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) Internet is currently accessed through mobile wireless 3G/4G technologies and fixed wireline broadband in the country.As per data collected from the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in 2020, it is  estimated  that  37,439  inhabited  villages  (as  per  Census  2011)  in  the  country  including  2,095 inhabited villages in Andhra Pradesh do not have 3G/ 4G mobile internet coverage.
- (b) These uncovered villages are being covered with high speed internet facility under schemes of the Government and Telecom Service Providers in a phased manner.
- (c) State/UT-wise fund allocated by the Government during the last three years for the BharatNet and other schemes for increasing the internet connectivity in rural areas is given in Annexure 1A & 1B.

(d) The  Government  has  taken  following  steps  to  increase  digital  literacy  in  rural  areas  of  the country:

-  In the years 2014 to 2016, two Schemes entitled 'National Digital Literacy Mission' (NDLM) and 'Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' (DISHA) were implemented by the Government with a target to train 52.50  lakh  candidates  in  digital  literacy  across  the  country  including  rural  India.  Under  these  two schemes,  a  total  of  53.67  lakh  beneficiaries  were  trained,  out  of  which  around  42%  of  candidates were from rural India.
-  In February 2017, the Government of India has approved a scheme titled '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) at a total outlay of Rs. 2,351.38 crore (approx.). Under this Scheme, in order to ensure equitable geographical reach, it is envisaged to cover each of the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats across the country. So far, more than 4.21 crore candidates have been enrolled and around 3.44 crore have been trained, out of which more than 2.51 crore candidates have been certified under the PMGDISHA Scheme.

(e) So  far,  a  total  of  Rs.1088  Crore  has  been  released  for  implementation  of  the  PMGDISHA scheme. The funds allocated by the Government for the said Scheme including current financial year are as under:

| Financial Year   |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |
|------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Amount( in Cr)   |       100 |       438 |       400 |       150 |

Annexure 1A Annexure  referred  to  in  Part  (c)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  1451  for Answer on 10.02.2021.

## Details of fund allocated/released/utilized in BharatNet project by the Government as on 31.12.2020 for last three years

|   S.No | State                                    |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |
|--------|------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|      1 | Andaman &Nicobar                         |      0    |     12.84 |      0.05 |
|      2 | Andhra Pradesh                           |     31.91 |      5.39 |     15.32 |
|      3 | Arunachal Pradesh                        |    182.41 |    308.15 |     95.93 |
|      4 | Assam                                    |    269.09 |     72.15 |    595.87 |
|      5 | Bihar                                    |     59.35 |      9.95 |      4.78 |
|      6 | Chhattisgarh                             |     20.8  |      1.7  |      0.27 |
|      7 | Gujarat, Dadra &Nagar Haveli, Daman &Diu |    160.26 |     35.51 |      6.06 |
|      8 | Haryana                                  |     12.86 |      6.18 |      0    |
|      9 | Himachal Pradesh                         |    397.09 |     91.5  |    940.13 |
|     10 | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh                |    136.45 |     77.21 |    376.72 |
|     11 | Jharkhand                                |    137.06 |    319.81 |    130.92 |
|     12 | Karnataka                                |    157.59 |    110.16 |    201.03 |
|     13 | Kerala                                   |     40.37 |    343.94 |    112.44 |
|     14 | Lakshadweep                              |     67.31 |     16.34 |      0    |
|     15 | Madhya Pradesh                           |     96.7  |     25.59 |      3.39 |
|     16 | Maharashtra                              |      0    |      0    |      0    |
|     17 | Manipur                                  |      0.82 |      0.08 |      0    |
|     18 | Meghalaya                                |      0.6  |      3.74 |      0.05 |
|     19 | Mizoram                                  |      9.37 |      3.17 |      0    |
|     20 | Nagaland                                 |      2.08 |      1.2  |      0.06 |
|     21 | Odisha                                   |      0.78 |      1.34 |      0.25 |
|     22 | Puducherry                               |      0.18 |      2.85 |      0    |
|     23 | Punjab                                   |      9.14 |      2.48 |      0    |
|     24 | Rajasthan                                |    302.63 |    996.6  |    347.11 |
|     25 | Sikkim                                   |      0    |      0    |      0    |
|     26 | Tamil Nadu                               |     39.42 |      3.9  |    225.41 |
|     27 | Telangana                                |     67.92 |    127.09 |    252.77 |
|     28 | Tripura                                  |    122.4  |     59.81 |    214.36 |
|     29 | Uttar Pradesh                            |      4.92 |     27.48 |      0    |

| S.No   | State/UT                     |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |
|--------|------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 30     | Uttarakhand                  |      4.38 |    159.26 |    191.23 |
| 31     | West Bengal                  |      0    |      0.01 |     39.44 |
|        | Total                        |   2333.86 |   2825.43 |   3753.58 |
|        | GPON &OFC                    |    127.76 |      0    |      0    |
|        | Ad hoc payment done for BSNL |    863    |    770    |      0    |
|        | TCIL                         |      0    |     19.67 |     11.4  |
|        | BSNL -VSAT                   |      0    |     42.38 |      0    |
|        | Bandwidth                    |      0    |     40.12 |      0    |

Annexure 1B referred to in Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1451 for Answer on 10.02.2021.

## Funds allocated/released/utilized under various USOF Schemes during the last three years (Rs. In Crore)

| S.N                                                                                                                     | Name of States/UTs                                                                                                      | Funds allocated/released/utilized under other USOF Schemes during the last three years (Rs. In Crore)                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Scheme for Submarine OFC Connectivity between Mainland India (Chennai) and Andaman& Nicobar Islands. ( Amount in Crore) | Scheme for Submarine OFC Connectivity between Mainland India (Chennai) and Andaman& Nicobar Islands. ( Amount in Crore) | Scheme for Submarine OFC Connectivity between Mainland India (Chennai) and Andaman& Nicobar Islands. ( Amount in Crore) |
| 1                                                                                                                       | Andaman &Nicobar                                                                                                        | 352.47                                                                                                                  |
| Scheme for setting up of 25000 Wi-Fi at Rural Exchanges of BSNL                                                         | Scheme for setting up of 25000 Wi-Fi at Rural Exchanges of BSNL                                                         | Scheme for setting up of 25000 Wi-Fi at Rural Exchanges of BSNL                                                         |
| 1                                                                                                                       | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                                          | 19.31                                                                                                                   |
| 2                                                                                                                       | Assam                                                                                                                   | 4.10                                                                                                                    |
| 3                                                                                                                       | Bihar                                                                                                                   | 20.58                                                                                                                   |
| 4                                                                                                                       | Chhattisgarh                                                                                                            | 5.56                                                                                                                    |
| 5                                                                                                                       | Gujarat                                                                                                                 | 19.74                                                                                                                   |
| 6                                                                                                                       | Haryana                                                                                                                 | 8.80                                                                                                                    |
| 7                                                                                                                       | Himachal Pradesh                                                                                                        | 8.76                                                                                                                    |
| 8                                                                                                                       | Jammu &Kashmir                                                                                                          | 2.80                                                                                                                    |
| 9                                                                                                                       | Jharkhand                                                                                                               | 3.88                                                                                                                    |
| 10                                                                                                                      | Karnataka                                                                                                               | 27.51                                                                                                                   |
| 11                                                                                                                      | Kerala                                                                                                                  | 16.39                                                                                                                   |
| 12                                                                                                                      | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                          | 12.53                                                                                                                   |
| 13                                                                                                                      | Maharashtra                                                                                                             | 54.40                                                                                                                   |
| 14                                                                                                                      | NE-I (Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura                                                                                       | 1.75                                                                                                                    |
| 15                                                                                                                      | NE-II (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland                                                                             | 1.65                                                                                                                    |
| 16                                                                                                                      | Odisha                                                                                                                  | 11.90                                                                                                                   |
| 17                                                                                                                      | Punjab                                                                                                                  | 12.43                                                                                                                   |
| 18                                                                                                                      | Rajasthan                                                                                                               | 17.29                                                                                                                   |
| 19                                                                                                                      | Tamil Nadu                                                                                                              | 15.87                                                                                                                   |
| 20                                                                                                                      | Telangana                                                                                                               | 10.16                                                                                                                   |
| 21                                                                                                                      | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                                           | 23.69                                                                                                                   |
| 22                                                                                                                      | Uttarakhand                                                                                                             | 4.43                                                                                                                    |
| 23                                                                                                                      | West Bengal                                                                                                             | 12.43                                                                                                                   |
| G.                                                                                                                      | TOTAL                                                                                                                   | 315.95                                                                                                                  |

*****