Lok Sabha Question No. 572 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-01
Subject: Schemes for increasing IT outreach
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Vijay Baghel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 572

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 01.12.2021

## SCHEMES FOR INCREASING IT OUTREACH

## 572. SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

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

- (a). the  salient  features  of  the  schemes  being  implemented  for  increasing  the  outreach  of information technology across the nation;
- (b). whether  the  Government  has  made  any  efforts  to  extend  the  reach  of  information technology for the people residing in rural, hilly and remote areas;
- (c). if so, the details thereof including Chhattisgarh;
- (d). whether the Government has taken/propose to take effective steps for decentralization of information technology; and
- (e). if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(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 to citizens in corruption free manner and directly to the beneficiary.

(b)  and  (c):Some  of  the  key  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  to  make  Information Technology  accessible  to  the  people  living  in  rural,  hilly  and  far  flung  areas  of  the  country including Chhattisgarh are as follows:

-  Common Services Centre (CSC): MeitY has 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)  to  cover  all  the  2.5  lakh  GPs  across  the country. Common  Services Centres are internet enabled centres operated by local entrepreneur,  called  Village  Level  Entrepreneurs  (VLEs)  and  provide  eServices  to  rural
- citizens.  Over  400  digital  services  are  being  offered  by  these  CSCs.  As  on  Oct,  2021,  the number of functional CSCs (including urban & rural areas) across the Country is 4,18,436 CSCs, out of which, 3,25,781 CSCs are functional at Gram Panchayat level. In the state of Chhattisgarh,  17,400  CSCs  are  functional,  out  of  them,  13,757  CSCs  are  functional  at  GP level.
-  Digital Village: MeitY has also initiated the 'Digital Village Pilot Project' in October, 2018. 700 Gram Panchayats (GPs)/Village 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 Service, Financial Services,  Skill  Development,  Solar  panel  powered  street  lights  including  Government  to Citizens Services (G2C), Business to Citizen (B2C) Services. 27 villages from Chhattisgarh have been covered under the pilot project for Digital Village implementation.
-  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  eServices 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.  e-District  services  have  been  launched  in  709  districts across 28 States/ 6 UTs. 129 e-services have been launched in all 28 districts of Chhattisgarh.
-  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). The scheme is applicable to all rural areas of the country. So far, training has been imparted to 4.54+ crore candidates and out of this more than 3.37+ crore candidates  have  been  certified.  In  the  state  of  Chhattisgarh,  training  has  been  imparted  to 21,54,260 candidates and out of this 16,29,621 candidates have been certified.
- (d)  and  (e):Digital  India  also  actively  advocate  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.

********