Lok Sabha Question No. 576 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Post Offices Connected with internet
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 576 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  JULY, 2022

## POST OFFICES CONNECTED WITH INTERNET

## 576. COL. RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  number  of  rural  post  offices  connected  with  internet  or  linked electronically, State-wise including district-wise details for Rajasthan;
- (b) the details of the number of electronic transactions occur with regards to e-governance or in Government backed schemes, State-wise including district-wise details for Rajasthan;
- (c) the  details  of  the  number  of  rural  areas  which  have  been  connected  with  optical  fibre cables,  State-wise  including  district-wise  details  for  Rajasthan  along  with  the  details  of  the number of Common Service Centres established so far;
- (d) whether the Government  imparts training in usage of such internet and Wi-Fi technologies to the people in rural areas and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government is taking any step to increase the speed of internet and Wi-Fi connections in rural areas and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the steps taken/proposed to be taken to integrate small and medium scale industries with internet, Wi-Fi services and e-governance services?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) There are 1,28,095 rural Branch Post offices connected with internet, out of which 8,976 Branch  Post  Offices  are  in  Rajasthan.   State-wise  details  of  number  of  rural  post  offices connected with internet including district-wise details for Rajasthan are enclosed as Annexure I(a) and I(b) respectively.

- (b) State-wise  detail  of  number  of  electronic  transactions  with  respect  to  e-  governance including Rajasthan is enclosed as Annexure II.

(c) Details of the number of rural areas which have been connected with optical fibre cables, State-wise including district-wise details for Rajasthan, are enclosed as Annexure III (a)  and III (b) respectively.  As on April 2022, total 5,17,868 CSCs are operational across all States & Union  Territories  of  the  country,  out  of  which,  total  4,09,665  CSCs  are  operational  at  Gram Panchayat (GP) level.

(d) The Government of India has approved a scheme titled 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta  Abhiyan  (PMGDISHA)'  to  usher  in  digital  literacy  in  rural  India.  It  is  being implemented  as  a  Central  Sector  Scheme  by  the  Ministry  of  Electronics  &  Information Technology  through  an  implementing  agency  namely  CSC  e-Governance  Services  India Limited, with active collaboration of all the State Governments and UT Administrations.

(e) The  BharatNet  project  is  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the country. As on 04.07.2022, total 1,77,550 GPs have been made Service Ready under the BharatNet project in the country. The infrastructure created under BharatNet project is a national asset, accessible on a non-discriminatory basis to the  Service  Providers,  and  the  same  can  be  utilized  to  provide  connectivity  for  providing broadband services including Wi-Fi Hotspots.   Mobile/Broadband/Internet services are provided in a phased manner by the Government and Telecom Services Provider (TSPs) in the uncovered villages of the country. The Government, with funding from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF),  has  schemes  namely Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  North  Eastern Region, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Affected Area schemes, Aspirational Districts Schemes, Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  Islands,  etc. to  extend mobile  connectivity through setting up of towers in the uncovered villages of the country

(f) The Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) is carrying out several digital initiatives for MSMEs, such as Udyam registration, online application for implementation of schemes of MoMSME, digital empowerment of MSMEs, e-Marketing through GeM, MSME Samadhaan for delayed payment monitoring system, etc.

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  of  Para  (a)  for  Lok  Sabha  unstarred  question  no.  576  to  be answered on 20th July 2022 regarding 'Post Offices connected with Internet'

| Sl No.   | Name of the State / Union Territory (UT)                                                    |   Number of Rural Post offices connected with Internet |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh                                                                              |                                                   8673 |
| 2        | Assam                                                                                       |                                                   3366 |
| 3        | Bihar                                                                                       |                                                   7976 |
| 4        | Chhattisgarh                                                                                |                                                   2652 |
| 5        | Delhi                                                                                       |                                                     88 |
| 6        | Gujarat (including UT - Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu)                              |                                                   7633 |
| 7        | Haryana                                                                                     |                                                   2183 |
| 8        | Himachal Pradesh                                                                            |                                                   2285 |
| 9        | Jammu &Kashmir (including UT - J&K and UT- Ladakh)                                          |                                                   1304 |
| 10       | Jharkhand                                                                                   |                                                   2620 |
| 11       | Karnataka                                                                                   |                                                   7927 |
| 12       | Kerala (including UT- Lakshadweep)                                                          |                                                   3553 |
| 13       | Madhya Pradesh                                                                              |                                                   7256 |
| 14       | Maharashtra (including Goa)                                                                 |                                                  10538 |
| 15       | North-East (including Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland) |                                                   2338 |
| 16       | Odisha                                                                                      |                                                   6894 |
| 17       | Punjab (including UT-Chandigarh)                                                            |                                                   3096 |
| 18       | Rajasthan                                                                                   |                                                   8976 |
| 19       | Tamil Nadu (including UT-Puducherry)                                                        |                                                   9228 |
| 20       | Telangana                                                                                   |                                                   4969 |
| 21       | Uttar Pradesh                                                                               |                                                  15086 |
| 22       | Uttarakhand                                                                                 |                                                   2262 |
| 23       | West Bengal (including Sikkim and UT- Andaman and Nicobar Islands)                          |                                                   7192 |
|          | Grand Total                                                                                 |                                                 128095 |

## Annexure-I(b)

| Annexure referred to in reply of Para (a) for Lok Sabha unstarred question no. 576 to be answered on 20th July 2022 regarding 'Post Offices connected with Internet'   | Annexure referred to in reply of Para (a) for Lok Sabha unstarred question no. 576 to be answered on 20th July 2022 regarding 'Post Offices connected with Internet'   | Annexure referred to in reply of Para (a) for Lok Sabha unstarred question no. 576 to be answered on 20th July 2022 regarding 'Post Offices connected with Internet'   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S No                                                                                                                                                                   | District Name                                                                                                                                                          | Number of Rural Post Offices connected with internet                                                                                                                   |
| 1                                                                                                                                                                      | Ajmer                                                                                                                                                                  | 312                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 2                                                                                                                                                                      | Alwar                                                                                                                                                                  | 423                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 3                                                                                                                                                                      | Baran                                                                                                                                                                  | 180                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 4                                                                                                                                                                      | Jhalawar                                                                                                                                                               | 231                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 5                                                                                                                                                                      | Kota                                                                                                                                                                   | 143                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 6                                                                                                                                                                      | Barmer                                                                                                                                                                 | 447                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 7                                                                                                                                                                      | Bharatpur                                                                                                                                                              | 269                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 8                                                                                                                                                                      | Bhilwara                                                                                                                                                               | 350                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 9                                                                                                                                                                      | Bikaner                                                                                                                                                                | 223                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 10                                                                                                                                                                     | Bundi                                                                                                                                                                  | 156                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 11                                                                                                                                                                     | Tonk                                                                                                                                                                   | 199                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 12                                                                                                                                                                     | Chittorgarh                                                                                                                                                            | 244                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 13                                                                                                                                                                     | Pratapgarh                                                                                                                                                             | 150                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 14                                                                                                                                                                     | Churu                                                                                                                                                                  | 302                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 15                                                                                                                                                                     | Dholpur                                                                                                                                                                | 256                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 16                                                                                                                                                                     | Dungarpur                                                                                                                                                              | 254                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 17                                                                                                                                                                     | Banswara                                                                                                                                                               | 259                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 18                                                                                                                                                                     | Hanumangarh                                                                                                                                                            | 204                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 19                                                                                                                                                                     | Shriganganagar                                                                                                                                                         | 301                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 20                                                                                                                                                                     | Jaipur                                                                                                                                                                 | 375                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 21                                                                                                                                                                     | Dausa                                                                                                                                                                  | 281                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 22                                                                                                                                                                     | Jaislmer                                                                                                                                                               | 185                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 23                                                                                                                                                                     | Jalore                                                                                                                                                                 | 262                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 24                                                                                                                                                                     | Sirohi                                                                                                                                                                 | 133                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 25                                                                                                                                                                     | Jhunjhunu                                                                                                                                                              | 348                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 26                                                                                                                                                                     | Jodhpur                                                                                                                                                                | 289                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 27                                                                                                                                                                     | Karauli                                                                                                                                                                | 222                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 28                                                                                                                                                                     | Sawaimadhopur                                                                                                                                                          | 184                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 29                                                                                                                                                                     | Nagaur                                                                                                                                                                 | 483                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 30                                                                                                                                                                     | Pali                                                                                                                                                                   | 318                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 31                                                                                                                                                                     | Rajsamand                                                                                                                                                              | 183                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 32                                                                                                                                                                     | Udaipur                                                                                                                                                                | 413                                                                                                                                                                    |
| 33                                                                                                                                                                     | Sikar                                                                                                                                                                  | 397                                                                                                                                                                    |
|                                                                                                                                                                        | Grand Total                                                                                                                                                            | 8976                                                                                                                                                                   |

Annexure-II Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  of  Para  (b)  for  Lok  Sabha  unstarred  question  no.  576  to  be

answered on 20th July 2022 regarding 'Post Offices connected with Internet'

| S.No   | State / Union Territory       | Count of e- governance Transactions   | Count of e- governance Transactions   |
|--------|-------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| S.No   | State / Union Territory       | Year -2021                            | Year -2022 (upto 15 July 2022)        |
| 1      | Andaman and Nicobar           | 15,62,693                             | 12,03,769                             |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh                | 53,88,76,068                          | 12,95,67,183                          |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh             | 21,21,123                             | 9,57,370                              |
| 4      | Assam                         | 6,50,76,689                           | 1,14,95,925                           |
| 5      | Bihar                         | 39,29,97,934                          | 11,81,27,128                          |
| 6      | Chandigarh                    | 96,84,220                             | 45,92,564                             |
| 7      | Chhattisgarh                  | 19,19,04,296                          | 17,95,79,127                          |
| 8      | Daman Diu Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 71,31,506                             | 1,20,23,999                           |
| 9      | Delhi                         | 6,32,40,236                           | 2,46,52,045                           |
| 10     | Goa                           | 27,34,245                             | 13,60,334                             |
| 11     | Gujarat                       | 41,24,78,995                          | 27,39,54,282                          |
| 12     | Haryana                       | 31,70,85,490                          | 13,90,92,821                          |
| 13     | Himachal Pradesh              | 4,32,09,486                           | 4,00,85,963                           |
| 14     | Jammu and Kashmir             | 3,68,81,610                           | 18,83,22,003                          |
| 15     | Jharkhand                     | 9,33,34,771                           | 10,62,08,727                          |
| 16     | Karnataka                     | 22,54,14,535                          | 9,41,89,906                           |
| 17     | Kerala                        | 11,95,26,151                          | 12,81,08,013                          |
| 18     | Ladakh                        | 4,34,681                              | 17,069                                |
| 19     | Lakshadweep                   | 12,35,218                             | 10,33,192                             |
| 20     | Madhya Pradesh                | 23,25,69,264                          | 30,81,47,899                          |
| 21     | Maharashtra                   | 41,85,91,938                          | 17,31,75,835                          |
| 22     | Manipur                       | 38,08,725                             | 43,15,499                             |
| 23     | Meghalaya                     | 30,22,833                             | 2,11,56,741                           |
| 24     | Mizoram                       | 21,95,440                             | 42,54,919                             |
| 25     | Nagaland                      | 31,62,435                             | 43,40,972                             |
| 26     | Odisha                        | 21,29,28,330                          | 5,51,65,160                           |
| 27     | Puducherry                    | 1,47,25,436                           | 88,39,726                             |
| 28     | Punjab                        | 29,93,58,915                          | 24,70,64,304                          |
| 29     | Rajasthan                     | 32,62,68,592                          | 16,10,90,027                          |
| 30     | Sikkim                        | 15,60,142                             | 7,81,607                              |
| 31     | Tamil Nadu                    | 81,17,30,439                          | 17,19,13,135                          |
| 32     | Telangana                     | 41,11,79,891                          | 10,21,14,224                          |
| 33     | Tripura                       | 49,02,775                             | 1,31,83,493                           |
| 34     | Uttar Pradesh                 | 1,09,01,26,013                        | 63,52,40,824                          |
| 35     | Uttarakhand                   | 7,83,16,228                           | 13,99,97,222                          |
| 36     | West Bengal                   | 1,25,80,42,547                        | 58,83,15,236                          |
| 37     | Figure of National level *    | 96,74,56,48,300                       | 69,80,56,95,749                       |
| Total  | Total                         | 1,04,44,30,68,190                     | 73,89,93,63,992                       |

## Annexure-III (a)

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  of  Para  (c)  for  Lok  Sabha  unstarred  question  no.  576  to  be answered on 20th July 2022 regarding 'Post Offices connected with Internet'

|   S. No. | State/Union Territory              |   Service Ready Gram Panchayat (GPs) on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) |   Service Ready Gram Panchayat (GPs) on Satellite |   Total Service Ready Gram Panchayats (GPs) (Optical Fibre Cable + Satellite) |
|----------|------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman &Nicobar                   |                                                                36 |                                                 3 |                                                                            39 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh*                    |                                                              2831 |                                                 9 |                                                                          2840 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                                                                79 |                                               690 |                                                                           769 |
|        4 | Assam                              |                                                              1506 |                                                 5 |                                                                          1511 |
|        5 | Bihar                              |                                                              8300 |                                                 7 |                                                                          8307 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                         |                                                                12 |                                                 0 |                                                                            12 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh*                      |                                                              9091 |                                                11 |                                                                          9102 |
|        8 | Daman &Diu and Dadra &Nagar Haveli |                                                                38 |                                                 0 |                                                                            38 |
|        9 | Goa#                               |                                                                 0 |                                                 0 |                                                                             0 |
|       10 | Gujarat*                           |                                                             14157 |                                                23 |                                                                         14180 |
|       11 | Haryana                            |                                                              6082 |                                                 0 |                                                                          6082 |
|       12 | Himachal Pradesh                   |                                                               251 |                                               156 |                                                                           407 |
|       13 | Jammu &Kashmir                     |                                                               413 |                                               669 |                                                                          1082 |
|       14 | Jharkhand*                         |                                                              4289 |                                                 2 |                                                                          4291 |
|       15 | Karnataka                          |                                                              6083 |                                                 0 |                                                                          6083 |
|       16 | Kerala                             |                                                               977 |                                                 1 |                                                                           978 |
|       17 | Ladakh                             |                                                                 0 |                                               191 |                                                                           191 |
|       18 | Lakshadweep                        |                                                                 0 |                                                 9 |                                                                             9 |
|       19 | Madhya Pradesh                     |                                                             17660 |                                                32 |                                                                         17692 |
|       20 | Maharashtra*                       |                                                             22119 |                                                 5 |                                                                         22124 |
|       21 | Manipur                            |                                                               315 |                                              1125 |                                                                          1440 |
|       22 | Meghalaya                          |                                                               122 |                                               532 |                                                                           654 |
|       23 | Mizoram                            |                                                                41 |                                               411 |                                                                           452 |
|       24 | Nagaland                           |                                                               116 |                                               116 |                                                                           232 |
|       25 | Odisha*                            |                                                              6708 |                                                38 |                                                                          6746 |
|       26 | Puducherry                         |                                                                98 |                                                 0 |                                                                            98 |
|       27 | Punjab                             |                                                             12664 |                                                 4 |                                                                         12668 |
|       28 | Rajasthan                          |                                                              8740 |                                                30 |                                                                          8770 |
|       29 | Sikkim                             |                                                                18 |                                                 2 |                                                                            20 |
|       30 | Tamil Nadu*$                       |                                                                 0 |                                                 0 |                                                                             0 |
|       31 | Telangana*                         |                                                              7972 |                                                 0 |                                                                          7972 |

| S. No.   | State/Union Territory   |   Service Ready Gram Panchayat (GPs) on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) |   Service Ready Gram Panchayat (GPs) on Satellite |   Total Service Ready Gram Panchayats (GPs) (Optical Fibre Cable + Satellite) |
|----------|-------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 32       | Tripura                 |                                                               584 |                                               142 |                                                                           726 |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh           |                                                             37977 |                                                33 |                                                                         38010 |
| 34       | Uttarakhand             |                                                              1514 |                                               148 |                                                                          1662 |
| 35       | West Bengal             |                                                              2363 |                                                 0 |                                                                          2363 |
|          | Total                   |                                                            173156 |                                              4394 |                                                                        177550 |

Note: Delhi has no GPs and thus not taken up under BharatNet Project.

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  of  Para  (c)  for  Lok  Sabha  unstarred  question  no.  576  to  be answered on 20 th July 2022 regarding 'Post Offices connected with Internet'

| S. No.   | District       |   Service Ready Gram Panchayat (GPs) on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) |   Service Ready GPs on Satellite |   Total Service Ready GPs (OPTICAL FIBRE CABLE + Satellite) |
|----------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Ajmer          |                                                               282 |                                0 |                                                         282 |
| 2        | Alwar          |                                                               481 |                                1 |                                                         482 |
| 3        | Banswara       |                                                               115 |                                0 |                                                         115 |
| 4        | Baran          |                                                               186 |                                0 |                                                         186 |
| 5        | Barmer         |                                                               240 |                                0 |                                                         240 |
| 6        | Bharatpur      |                                                               374 |                                0 |                                                         374 |
| 7        | Bhilwara       |                                                               384 |                                0 |                                                         384 |
| 8        | Bikaner        |                                                               290 |                                0 |                                                         290 |
| 9        | Bundi          |                                                               179 |                                4 |                                                         183 |
| 10       | Chittorgarh    |                                                               265 |                                2 |                                                         267 |
| 11       | Churu          |                                                               253 |                                0 |                                                         253 |
| 12       | Dausa          |                                                               231 |                                0 |                                                         231 |
| 13       | Dholpur        |                                                                94 |                                0 |                                                          94 |
| 14       | Dungarpur      |                                                               121 |                                0 |                                                         121 |
| 15       | Ganganagar     |                                                               242 |                                1 |                                                         243 |
| 16       | Hanumangarh    |                                                               251 |                                0 |                                                         251 |
| 17       | Jaipur         |                                                               532 |                                0 |                                                         532 |
| 18       | Jaisalmer      |                                                                86 |                               16 |                                                         102 |
| 19       | Jalore         |                                                               274 |                                0 |                                                         274 |
| 20       | Jhalawar       |                                                               252 |                                0 |                                                         252 |
| 21       | Jhunjhunu      |                                                               301 |                                0 |                                                         301 |
| 22       | Jodhpur        |                                                               431 |                                1 |                                                         432 |
| 23       | Karauli        |                                                               222 |                                0 |                                                         222 |
| 24       | Kota           |                                                               156 |                                0 |                                                         156 |
| 25       | Nagaur         |                                                               466 |                                0 |                                                         466 |
| 26       | Pali           |                                                               317 |                                4 |                                                         321 |
| 27       | Pratapgarh     |                                                               109 |                                1 |                                                         110 |
| 28       | Rajsamand      |                                                               207 |                                0 |                                                         207 |
| 29       | Sawai Madhopur |                                                               200 |                                0 |                                                         200 |
| 30       | Sikar          |                                                               343 |                                0 |                                                         343 |
| 31       | Sirohi         |                                                               162 |                                0 |                                                         162 |
| 32       | Tonk           |                                                               230 |                                0 |                                                         230 |
| 33       | Udaipur        |                                                               464 |                                0 |                                                         464 |
|          | Total          |                                                              8740 |                               30 |                                                        8770 |

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