Lok Sabha Question No. 2447 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-18
Subject: Internet Access in Government Schools
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sunil Dattatray Tatkare

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2447

## ANSWERED ON 18/12/2023

## Internet Access in Government Schools

## 2447. SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the percentage of Government schools that have access to functional internet connection since 2019, State/year-wise;
- (b) whether there is any scheme to improve access of internet in Government School;
- (c) if so, the progress made so far and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether there is any scheme of the Government to provide financial assistance for digital education; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY EDUCATION (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

- (a): State/UT-wise percentage of Government schools having internet connectivity as per UDISE+ from 2019-20 to 2021-22 is given at Annexure .
- (b) & (c): Education is in the Concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the administrative control of respective State Government and UT Administration. An advisory has been issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India to all the States and UTs to enter into an MoU/ Agreement with BSNL and provide FTTH Internet connection to all the Government Schools which have computing devices.  States/ UTs have been advised that the Internet Charges can be met from the following:
- For ICT Labs / Smart Class rooms sanctioned under Samagra Shiksha, internet charges can be met from the recurring charges being released under Samagra Shiksha.

· For Schools in which ICT / Smart Class room are not sanctioned under Samagra Shiksha and which  have  computing  devices,  internet  Charges  can  be  met  from  the  Management  monitoring Evaluation and Research (MMER) funds being released under Samagra Shiksha or can be met from any other State/UT Government funds.

(d) & (e): ICT  and  Digital  Initiatives  component  of  centrally  sponsored  scheme  of  Samagra Shiksha covers Government and Aided Schools having classes VI to XII. Under this component, the non-recurring/recurring grant under 'ICT and Digital Initiatives' for schools will be available to the State and UTs for following two options:

(i) Option I: Under this option schools which have not availed the ICT facility earlier can either opt for ICT or smart classrooms as per their requirement and need. In case of more than 700 enrolment, an additional  ICT  lab  can  also  be  considered.  The  scheme  offers  step-wise  funding  based  on  school enrolment, for enrolments < 100, 100 - 250 and 250 - 700, the capex being 2.5, 4.5 and 6.4 (in lakhs) respectively.    For  schools  with  more  than  700  students,  the  scheme  will  consider  allocation  of additional funds. For example, schools with enrolment of 1,400 could receive 2 units of fund allocation for both types of expenditures.

(ii) Option II: Under this option schools which have already availed the ICT facility earlier can avail smart classrooms as per the norms of the scheme.

Recurring Expenditure for ICT lab remains at Rs 2.4 lakh per school for school sizes of 700 students and below.

For Smart Classrooms, the Non-recurring and Recurring envelope stands at Rs. 2.4 lakhs and 0.38 lakhs for a maximum of 2 smart classrooms per school.

*****

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2447 FOR REPLY ON 18 TH  DECEMBER, 2023 ASKED BY SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE, HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING INTERNET ACCESS IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

## Statement  showing  State/UT-wise  percentage  of  Government  schools  with  Internet  connection/ facilities

| States/UTs               |   2019-20 (%) | 2020-21 (%)   | 2021-22 (%)   |
|--------------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
| ANDAMAN &NICOBAR ISLANDS |          19.9 | 26.6          | 38.9          |
| ANDHRA PRADESH           |           9.1 | 8.8           | 45.0          |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH        |           3.4 | 3.8           | 15.3          |
| ASSAM                    |           4.3 | 4.8           | 10.3          |
| BIHAR                    |           2.1 | 2.2           | 5.9           |
| CHANDIGARH               |         100   | 100.0         | 100.0         |
| CHHATTISGARH             |           3.4 | 8.5           | 33.8          |
| DADRA &NAGARHAVELI       |          14.7 | 27.0          | 50.0          |
| DAMAN &DIU               |          70.6 |               |               |
| DELHI                    |          88.2 | 89.8          | 100.0         |
| GOA                      |           8.5 | 8.5           | 36.7          |
| GUJARAT                  |          66.9 | 72.4          | 94.2          |
| HARYANA                  |          19.9 | 21.2          | 29.8          |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH         |          14   | 14.2          | 27.1          |
| JAMMU &KASHMIR           |           5.2 | 5.3           | 22.3          |
| JHARKHAND                |          30.3 | 28.8          | 33.6          |
| KARNATAKA                |           7.7 | 6.1           | 10.7          |
| KERALA                   |          87.6 | 87.2          | 94.6          |
| LADAKH                   |           1.9 | 56.7          | 40.8          |
| LAKSHADWEEP              |          93.3 | 93.3          | 97.4          |
| MADHYAPRADESH            |           3.8 | 4.1           | 17.8          |
| MAHARASHTRA              |          10.9 | 11.8          | 28.2          |
| MANIPUR                  |           2.4 | 2.8           | 11.8          |
| MEGHALAYA                |           1.3 | 1.3           | 14.3          |
| MIZORAM                  |           2.4 | 4.3           | 6.0           |
| NAGALAND                 |           3   | 3.5           | 43.4          |
| ODISHA                   |           2.7 | 2.8           | 8.1           |
| PUDUCHERRY               |          42.7 | 94.8          | 100.0         |
| PUNJAB                   |          35.2 | 99.6          | 46.8          |
| RAJASTHAN                |          24.1 | 28.0          | 53.5          |
| SIKKIM                   |          13.2 | 13.6          | 26.7          |
| TAMIL NADU               |          18   | 18.0          | 24.7          |
| TELANGANA                |           8   | 8.2           | 9.2           |
| TRIPURA                  |           1.6 | 2.8           | 16.0          |
| UTTAR PRADESH            |           2.9 | 3.0           | 8.8           |
| UTTARAKHAND              |           6.4 | 6.3           | 15.6          |
| WEST BENGAL              |           9.7 | 10.3          | 15.5          |
| TOTAL                    |          11.6 | 13.6          | 24.2          |

Source: UDISE+