Lok Sabha Question No. 197 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-12
Subject: Villages Covered under Digital Village Programme
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Selvam G, Shri Navaskani K

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *197

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 12.03.2025

## VILLAGES COVERED UNDER DIGITAL VILLAGE PROGRAMME

## *197.  SHRI SELVAM G:

## SHRI NAVASKANI K:

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

- (a) the number of villages covered under the Digital Village Programme till date in the country,State-wise including Tamil Nadu;
- (b) the key facilities and services being provided under the said programme;
- (c) the number of Common Service Centres (CSCs) established under this initiative;
- (d) the status of internet connectivity in villages under this programme;
- (e) whether there are plans to enhance the speed and coverage of internet services in these villages and if so, the details thereof;
- (f) whether  issues  like  lack  of  digital  literacy,  infrastructure  or  electricity  supply  have impacted  the  programme's  effectiveness  and  if  so,  the  measures  taken  by  the Government to overcome these challenges;
- (g) whether the Digital Village Programme has provisions to promote digital inclusion for marginalized communities including women and Scheduled Castes/Tribes; and
- (h) the specific steps taken to enhance digital literacy and entrepreneurship among rural women?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (h):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *197 FOR 12.03.2025 REGARDING 'VILLAGE COVERED UNDER DIGITAL VILLAGE PROGRAMME'

(a) and (b): Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) approved 'Digital Village  Pilot  Project'  on  31.10.2018,  to  provide  education  services,  health  services,  skill development services, solar powered street lights and financial inclusion services along with government-to-citizen services and business-to-citizen services in 700 villages (one  village from each district of States and Union Territories (UTs)) across the country. The project has been successfully closed w.e.f 31 st March, 2024. A total number of 32 villages covered in Tamil Nadu under the project.

State-wise details of the number of villages covered under the project across the country is enclosed at Annexure-I .  The project has been successfully completed & closed and the key services are follows:

- i. Education  Services:  Courses  provided  under  this  project-  Basic  Computer  Course (BCC),  Course  on  Computer  Concept  (CCC),  Tally-  Kaushal  Praman  Patra,  Basic Course in Information Technology (BCIT).
- ii. Additional  Education:  Competitive  exam  training,  fundamental  of  CAD  (Computer Aided Design)
- iii. Health Services: Tele-health and Tele-Veterinary consultation
- iv. Financial inclusion awareness programme
- v. Solar street lights
- vi. Skill  development  in  (a)  Automotive  technician,  (b)  Handset  repair,  (c)  Field technician - Home appliance, (d) Electrical technician

(c): There  was  no  provision  to  establish  Common  Services  Centres  (CSCs)  under  the Digital Village Pilot Project.

(d): Provisioning of internet connectivity in the village was not envisaged under the Digital Village Pilot Project. The project has been implemented utilizing functional CSCs, CSC eGovernance Services India Limited apprised that internet connectivity is available at the CSC centre in 700 villages, covered under the Digital Village project.

(e): Department of Telecommunications, through Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) is implementing projects for providing 4G mobile services in 36, 536 uncovered villages/locations with a purpose to saturate 4G connectivity in all villages across the country. Till February 2025, 21, 577 villages/ locations have been covered.

Department  of  Telecommunications,  through  Digital  Bharat  Nidhi  (DBN)  is  implementing schemes to, (i) saturate all uncovered villages with 4G Coverage; and (ii) provide broadband connectivity  in  all  villages  under  Amended  BharatNet  program.  The  4G  services  offer Broadband  speeds  that  support  various  applications  including  video  streaming.  Under  the Amended BharatNet program, BSNL shall provide sufficient bandwidth to ensure at least 25 Mbps speed to every rural home connection.

On 04.08.2023,  the  Union  Cabinet  has  approved  the  Amended  BharatNet  Program  (ABP) under  Design,  Built,  Operate  and  Maintain  (DBOM)  model,  for  up-gradation  of  existing network  of  Bharat  Net  Phase-I  and  Phase-II,  creation  of  network  in  balance  42,000  GPs (approx.) including Operation and Maintenance for 10 years.

(f): The  project  utilized already  existing infrastructure  such  as  internet  connectivity (BharatNet and other available connectivity) and functional/operational CSCs  for  its implementation. Moreover, the initiative of Digital Village Project expanded digital literacy by way of training on digital courses, financial inclusion awareness programme and improved sustainable infrastructure through provision of 8 solar lights per villages.

(g) and (h): The Digital Village Pilot Project is not specific to any community/gender/segment of society. However, promoting digital inclusion, digital literacy and  entrepreneurship  for  all  rural  residents  are  objectives  of  this  project,  as  mentioned  in reply  of  para  (a)  &  (b).  The  project  offered  education  services  (Courses-Basic  Computer Course,  Course  on  Computer  Concept,  Tally-  Kaushal  Praman  Patra,  Basic  Course  in Information  Technology),  competitive  exam  training,  fundamental  CAD  (Computer  Aided Design), health services (tele-health consultation and tele-veterinary consultation), financial inclusion  awareness  programme,  and  skill  development  in  (a)  Automotive  technician,  (b) Handset repair, (c) Field technician - Home appliance, (d) Electrical technician.

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## State/UT-wise number of villages covered under the Digital Village Pilot Project

| S. No.   | State/UT           |   Number of Villages |
|----------|--------------------|----------------------|
| 1        | Andaman Nicobar    |                    1 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh     |                   13 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh  |                   21 |
| 4        | Assam              |                   33 |
| 5        | Bihar              |                   38 |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh       |                   27 |
| 7        | Dadar Nagar Haveli |                    1 |
| 8        | Daman &Diu         |                    2 |
| 9        | Goa                |                    2 |
| 10       | Gujarat            |                   33 |
| 11       | Haryana            |                   22 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh   |                   12 |
| 13       | Jammu &Kashmir     |                   20 |
| 14       | Jharkhand          |                   24 |
| 15       | Karnataka          |                   30 |
| 16       | Kerala             |                   14 |
| 17       | Ladakh             |                    2 |
| 18       | Lakshadweep        |                    1 |
| 19       | Madhya Pradesh     |                   51 |
| 20       | Maharashtra        |                   34 |
| 21       | Manipur            |                   16 |
| 22       | Meghalaya          |                   11 |
| 23       | Mizoram            |                    8 |
| 24       | Nagaland           |                   11 |
| 25       | Odisha             |                   30 |
| 26       | Puducherry         |                    4 |
| 27       | Punjab             |                   22 |
| 28       | Rajasthan          |                   33 |
| 29       | Sikkim             |                    4 |
| 30       | Tamilnadu          |                   32 |
| 31       | Telangana          |                   30 |
| 32       | Tripura            |                    8 |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh      |                   75 |
| 34       | Uttarakhand        |                   13 |
| 35       | West Bengal        |                   22 |
| Total    | Total              |                  700 |

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