Lok Sabha Question No. 2107 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Digital Literacy
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Rajveer Diler

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2107

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2023

## DIGITAL LITERACY

## 2107.   SHRI RAJVEER DILER:

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

- (a) whether there has been any rise in digital literacy in the country during the last three years and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to increase the speed of internet especially in the rural areas;
- (c) the number of villages where high speed internet facility is already available or being made available along  with  number  of  villages  where  the  said  facility  is  yet  to  be  provided,  State-wise  and  Union Territory-wise, including Uttar Pradesh; and
- (d) the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a): India over the last 9 years has become a pre-eminent nation in deploying technologies for the benefit and transforming the lives of its citizens. Keeping this in view, the Government is focusing on providing digital literacy to citizens across the country, especially in rural areas. In line with this, the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was launched in February 2017 to usher in digital literacy in rural India with a target to cover 6 crore rural households (one person per household) across the country. Under this Scheme, as of now, more than 7.04 crore candidates have been enrolled, 6.07 crore have been trained and 4.52 crore candidates have been duly certified. During the last three years, digital literacy has been provided to a total of more than 2.88 crore beneficiaries, out of which 2.22 crore candidates have been duly certified. The year-wise details are given below: -

| Year       | Registered   | Trained     | Certified   |
|------------|--------------|-------------|-------------|
| FY 2020-21 | 1,08,91,488  | 97,05,343   | 73,07,927   |
| FY 2021-22 | 1,11,73,679  | 98,41,726   | 76,13,672   |
| FY 2022-23 | 1,02,56,353  | 92,83,042   | 73,39,079   |
| Total      | 3,23,21,520  | 2,88,30,111 | 2,22,60,678 |

(b) to (d): Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communication has informed that the 'BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to create network to connect all the Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)/  Villages  with  broadband.  This  infrastructure  is  leased  to  Telecom  Service Providers (TSPs)/ Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for provision of internet connectivity in GPs/ rural areas including post offices/ other Government institutions/ villages, schools, and private connections etc. As of June, 2023, 1,94,909 GPs are made service ready under BharatNet project in the country.

Further,  various  projects  including  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  (CTDP)  for  the  NorthEastern Region, Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Islands and Mobile connectivity projects are implemented under USOF, DoT for connectivity of Rural and Remote areas of the country including Aspirational Districts, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) area, Border Areas and other unconnected/ underserved areas. Further, the State/UT wise details of mobile internet connectivity areat Annexure .

*******

## Annexure

As  per  data  provided  by  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs),  Department  of  Telecommunications  field units  and  State  Governments,  as  of  March  '2022,  out  of  6,44,131  villages  (villages  are  as  per  data  of

Registrar General of India as of November 2019), around 6,05,230 number of villages are covered with mobile internet(2G/3G/4G) connectivity. The State/UT wise details of mobile internet connectivity are as below:

| S. No.   | State Name                               | No. of villages (as per data of Registrar General of India as of November 2019)   | No. of villages Covered with mobile connectivity (March-22)   | No. of villages Covered with 2G (March-22)   | No. of villages Covered with 3G (March-22)   | No. of villages Covered with 4G (March-22)   | No. of villages Covered with 3G or 4G or both (March-22)   |
|----------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman& Nicobar Islands                 | 559                                                                               | 298                                                           | 297                                          | 81                                           | 105                                          | 150                                                        |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh                           | 17328                                                                             | 14357                                                         | 14016                                        | 9372                                         | 14159                                        | 14174                                                      |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 5993                                                                              | 2912                                                          | 2800                                         | 1410                                         | 2262                                         | 2371                                                       |
| 4        | Assam                                    | 26429                                                                             | 24346                                                         | 24024                                        | 17146                                        | 24223                                        | 24266                                                      |
| 5        | Bihar                                    | 44888                                                                             | 44634                                                         | 44406                                        | 32966                                        | 44575                                        | 44577                                                      |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh                             | 20072                                                                             | 18185                                                         | 17181                                        | 12875                                        | 17482                                        | 17562                                                      |
| 7        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 95                                                                                | 62                                                            | 62                                           | 57                                           | 62                                           | 62                                                         |
| 8        | Goa                                      | 392                                                                               | 351                                                           | 346                                          | 333                                          | 342                                          | 348                                                        |
| 9        | Gujarat                                  | 18425                                                                             | 17858                                                         | 17519                                        | 16508                                        | 17604                                        | 17704                                                      |
| 10       | Haryana                                  | 6640                                                                              | 6633                                                          | 6611                                         | 6505                                         | 6629                                         | 6631                                                       |
| 11       | Himachal Pradesh                         | 20852                                                                             | 19370                                                         | 18871                                        | 13745                                        | 18970                                        | 19037                                                      |
| 12       | Jammu and Kashmir                        | 6474                                                                              | 5652                                                          | 5364                                         | 3690                                         | 5643                                         | 5645                                                       |
| 13       | Jharkhand                                | 32370                                                                             | 30298                                                         | 28178                                        | 7147                                         | 30050                                        | 30052                                                      |
| 14       | Karnataka                                | 29818                                                                             | 28697                                                         | 27951                                        | 10863                                        | 28634                                        | 28652                                                      |
| 15       | Kerala                                   | 1438                                                                              | 1385                                                          | 1385                                         | 1370                                         | 1358                                         | 1384                                                       |
| 16       | Ladakh                                   | 243                                                                               | 124                                                           | 113                                          | 20                                           | 92                                           | 93                                                         |
| 17       | Lakshadweep                              | 27                                                                                | 23                                                            | 22                                           | 15                                           | 10                                           | 23                                                         |
| 18       | Madhya Pradesh                           | 55058                                                                             | 51966                                                         | 49632                                        | 39298                                        | 51818                                        | 51849                                                      |
| 19       | Maharashtra                              | 43931                                                                             | 40810                                                         | 40150                                        | 38070                                        | 40138                                        | 40591                                                      |
| 20       | Manipur                                  | 2612                                                                              | 2142                                                          | 1904                                         | 921                                          | 2069                                         | 2081                                                       |
| 21       | Meghalaya                                | 7100                                                                              | 4672                                                          | 3468                                         | 1562                                         | 4580                                         | 4598                                                       |
| 22       | Mizoram                                  | 867                                                                               | 626                                                           | 411                                          | 122                                          | 618                                          | 623                                                        |
| 23       | Nagaland                                 | 1535                                                                              | 1115                                                          | 1070                                         | 550                                          | 1073                                         | 1083                                                       |
| 24       | NCT of Delhi                             | 55                                                                                | 55                                                            | 55                                           | 55                                           | 55                                           | 55                                                         |
| 25       | Odisha                                   | 51176                                                                             | 44584                                                         | 40326                                        | 16624                                        | 43584                                        | 43656                                                      |
| 26       | Puducherry                               | 96                                                                                | 95                                                            | 95                                           | 82                                           | 95                                           | 95                                                         |
| 27       | Punjab                                   | 12534                                                                             | 12524                                                         | 12519                                        | 12441                                        | 12519                                        | 12519                                                      |
| 28       | Rajasthan                                | 46077                                                                             | 42761                                                         | 41226                                        | 28688                                        | 42343                                        | 42365                                                      |
| 29       | Sikkim                                   | 461                                                                               | 157                                                           | 156                                          | 129                                          | 157                                          | 157                                                        |
| 30       | Tamil Nadu                               | 16488                                                                             | 16104                                                         | 16000                                        | 15687                                        | 15916                                        | 16010                                                      |
| 31       | Telangana                                | 10203                                                                             | 10000                                                         | 9848                                         | 8452                                         | 9951                                         | 9964                                                       |
| 32       | Tripura                                  | 937                                                                               | 638                                                           | 585                                          | 340                                          | 638                                          | 638                                                        |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh                            | 105531                                                                            | 105257                                                        | 105222                                       | 103012                                       | 105146                                       | 105156                                                     |
| 34       | Uttarakhand                              | 16456                                                                             | 15701                                                         | 15568                                        | 12953                                        | 15215                                        | 15377                                                      |
|          | Grand                                    | 644131                                                                            |                                                               |                                              | 449971                                       | 598951                                       | 600384                                                     |
|          | Total                                    |                                                                                   | 605230                                                        | 588185                                       |                                              |                                              |                                                            |

*******