Lok Sabha Question No. 228 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-02-24
Subject: Indigenous projects by Deity
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: RAM CHARITRA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 228

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## INDIGENOUS PROJECTS BY DEITY

## 228 SHRI RAM CHARITRA NISHAD:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a)    whether the Department of Electronics and Information Technology  (DeitY) plans to finance indigenous projects working on developing 5G, wearable computers, Internet of Things and other high end technologies;
- (b)    if so, the details thereof;
- (c)    whether it is also true that Convergence Communications and Broadband Technologies has invited proposals for financial support from scientists, academic and R&D institutions among others; and
- (d)    if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER   FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a)  and  (b):  Yes,  Sir.  Department  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology(DeitY)  is supporting projects in the areas of 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), wearable computing, and other high  end  technologies  through  call  for  proposals  amongst  academia,  R&D  institutions  and industry associations which results in development of indigenous technologies. A collaborative research  project  on  5G  by  premier  academic  institutes-IISc,  IITs  &  CEWiT  (Centre  of Excellence in Wireless Technology) has been recently initiated for the development of advanced simulators and prototype. A Centre for Excellence for IoT in partnership between Education and Research Network (ERNET) and NASSCOM has been set up by the department with matching funding from both agencies.

(c) and (d): Yes, Sir.  More than 40 R&D project proposals have been received in the area of Convergence, Communications, Broadband Technologies and Strategic Electronics. The proposals received are presented before the group of experts for evaluation and recommendations for financial support.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 172

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## PROTECTION OF DATA

## 172 SHRI C.S.  PUTTA  RAJU:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps to protect the data pertaining to individuals and their privacy in the country in view of increasing data thefts using malware;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER   FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) and (b): With  the  innovation  of  technology  and  rise  in  usage  of  cyber  space  for businesses,  the  cyber  attacks  such  as  spam,  spoofing,  phishing  and  malicious  software  or malware are also on the rise. Such cyber attacks target users to trick them to divulge information such  as  online  credentials  and  steal  data  from  computers.  Incidents  of  malware  infections  in Indian  cyber  space  are  reported  to  and  tracked  by  the  Indian  Computer  Emergency  Response Team (CERT-In).  Some of the latest malware targeting computer systems and mobile devices include  Capahaw,  Dorkbot,  corebot,  Golroted,  Kilim,  Android.Badaccents,  Cridex  Trojan, Android Opfake, Dyreza,  ZeroAccess, ZeuS etc.

Government has taken the following steps to prevent malware attacks and data theft:

- i. Alerts and advisories about the malware threats are being issued regularly by the Indian Computer  Emergency  Response  Team  (CERT-In).  Measures  to  be  taken  to  detect infected  systems,  tools  to  dis-infect  the  same  and  prevent  further  propagation  are  also being advised regularly to organizations and published on website 'www.cert-in.org.in' for all users.
- ii. CERT-In, Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DEITY) has initiated action  with  active  participation  of  Service  Providers  and  Industry  to  set  up  a  Botnet Cleaning  and  Malware  Analysis  centre  for  detection  of  computer  systems  infected  by malware  and  to  notify,  enable  cleaning  and  securing  systems  of  end  users  to  prevent further malware infections.
- iii. CERT-In is working in coordination with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and banks to track and disable phishing websites.
- iv. To create awareness about possible frauds by using email and SMS, advisories are being issued by Banks, Telecom Service Providers and Police Authorities from time to time to the users.
- v. Banks  are  creating  user  awareness  for  general  public  against  phishing,  lottery  scams, internet banking, Credit/Debit cards and other frauds.
- vi. The  Information  Technology  Act,  2000,  provides  legal  framework  to  address  various types  of  prevalent  cyber  crimes  and  security  breaches  of  information  technology infrastructure.  Section  43,  Section  43A  Section  66,  Section  66B,  Section  66C,  Section 66D and  Section 72A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 provides comprehensive legal framework for privacy and Security of data in digital form.  Sections 43 and 43A of the Act provides for compensation to be paid to the victim in case of unauthorized access of information and leakage of sensitive personal information respectively.  Section 43A also mandates that body corporate, who collect personal data or information must provide privacy  policy  for  handling  of  or  dealing  in  personal  information  including  sensitive personal  data  or  information  on  their  websites.    They  are  also  required  to  implement reasonable security practices and procedures to protect the information.
- vii. Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DEITY) is conducting programs to generate information security awareness. Specific books, videos and online materials are developed for children, parents and general users about information security which are disseminated through Portals like'www.infosecawareness.in', 'www.secureyourelectronics.in' and 'www.cert-in.org.in'.
8. (c): Does not arise.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 25

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## DIGITAL LITERACY

## 25 SHRI SUNIL  KUMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a)    whether the Government has got any information regarding the percentage of digital literacy in the country at present and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)     the percentage of digital literacy in Jharkhand along with the details thereof;
- (c)    whether the Government has set any target for increasing the digital literacy and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)     the efforts being made by the Government for increasing digital literacy along with the details of the schemes proposed in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER   FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a):    As  per  the  National  Sample  Survey  Office's  (NSSO)  (under  the  Ministry  of  Statistics  and  Program Implementation) 71 st Round Survey Report (Jan-June, 2014), the proportion (per 1000) of persons (age 14 years and above) who have the ability to operate a computer (includes devices such as desktops / laptops / notebooks / net books / palmtops / smart phones etc) is at Annexure.
- (b):   As per the above report of NSSO, for the State of Jharkhand, the proportion (per 1000) of households (with at least one member of age 14 years & above) having access to internet facility is 101 (Rural+Urban).

Similarly, households having computer in  the State of Jharkhand is 57 (per 1000  - Rural + Urban)

- (c) and (d):   DeitY  has approved two Schemes  for providing Digital Literacy to the masses:
- i) A scheme entitled  'National  Digital  Literacy  Mission'  to  train  10  lakh  persons  in  digital  literacy  was approved in March 2014.
- ii) Subsequently,  a  scheme  entitled  'Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyan'  (DISHA)  to  train  42.5  lakh  persons  in digital literacy throughout the country was approved on 09.12.2014 under Digital India.

Both  these  Schemes  are  being  run  concurrently.  So  far,  under  the  NDLM/DISHA  schemes,  around  49  lakh candidates have been registered, a total of 36.5 lakh students have been trained and approximately 14.5 lakh students  have  been  certified.  A  total  of  1,875  organizations  are  working  as  Training  Partners  under  these schemes.

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## Annexure

| Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   | Ability to operate computer(per 1000) of population (age 14 years and above) to operate a computer   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                      | Rural                                                                                                | Rural                                                                                                | Rural                                                                                                | Rural                                                                                                | Urban                                                                                                | Urban                                                                                                | Urban                                                                                                | Urban                                                                                                |
| Age group (years)                                                                                    | 14-29                                                                                                | 30-45                                                                                                | 46-60                                                                                                | 60 and above                                                                                         | 14-29                                                                                                | 30-45                                                                                                | 46-60                                                                                                | 60 and above                                                                                         |
| Persons                                                                                              | 183                                                                                                  | 41                                                                                                   | 14                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                    | 489                                                                                                  | 243                                                                                                  | 148                                                                                                  | 68                                                                                                   |

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *9

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## DIGITAL INDIA CAMPAIGN

## *9   SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT: SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a)    the  progress  made  so  far  in  achieving  the  objectives  envisaged  under  the  'Digital  India' campaign;
- (b)  the number of companies within the country as well as abroad which have entered into an agreement with the Government under the 'Digital India' campaign;
- (c)    the investment made and the employment likely to generated as a result thereof;
- (d)   the details of funds disbursed under the project in the current fiscal till January, 2016; and
- (e)  the steps taken by the Government to ensure coordination among different agencies involved in this scheme?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO *9 FOR 24-02-2016 REGARDING DIGITAL INDIA CAMPAIGN

*******

(a):    Digital  India  is  a  programme  to  transform  India  into  a  digitally  empowered  society  and knowledge  economy.    It  is  an Umbrella  Programme that  covers  multiple  Government Ministries and Departments. Digital India is to be coordinated by DeitY and implemented by the entire Government .

The  programme  aims  at  pulling  together  many existing  schemes .  The  schemes  will  be restructured and re-focused and will be implemented in a synchronized manner.

## Vision of Digital India: The Vision of Digital India is centred on three key areas:

1. Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen
2. Governance and services on Demand
3. Digital Empowerment of Citizens

Pillars  of  Digital  India: There  are  nine  pillars  of  growth  areas  under  the  Digital  India programme.  Each  of  these  areas  is  a  complex  programme  in  itself  and  cuts  across  multiple Ministries and Departments. The progress made so far is as follows:

## Pillar 1: Broadband Highways

-  Under  National  Optical  Fibre  Network  (NOFN)  project,  optical  fibre  has  reached  to 40,333 Gram Panchayats and optical fiber cable has been laid for 94,689 kms.

## Pillar 2: Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity

-  Rural tele-density has reached to more than 49%.
-  Spectrum Sharing and Trading has been approved and guidelines issued on 24.09.2015 and 12.10.2015.

## Pillar 3: Public Internet Access Programme

-  1,03,631 Common Services Centres have been set up under CSC 2.0 scheme in Gram Panchayats.
-  15,047 Post Offices for Core Banking Solution (CBS) and 25,406 Post Offices for Core Insurance  Solution  (CIS)  have  been  migrated.  ATM  services  are  installed  in  326  Post Offices.

## Pillar 4: E-Governance : Reforming government through Technology

-  Data Digitization and Aadhaar seeding initiated in various depts.
-  Number of user Departments for e-Office is 129.

## Pillar 5: eKranti- Electronic delivery of services

-  The portfolio of Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) has been increased from 31 MMPs to 44 MMPs under e-Kranti. 27 MMPs have been implemented.
-  222 out of 252 services are live.
-  The MMPs of e-Kranti have delivered more than 675 crore e-Transactions from 01st Jan 2015 to 31st Dec 2015.

## Pillar 6: Information for All

-  MyGov  platform,  a  medium  to  seek  ideas/ suggestions from  Citizen, has been implemented. Till date, 43 Groups, 486 discussion themes, 393 tasks and 165 blogs have been published on MyGov platform.
-  Weekly newsletters are being sent to more than 18.5 lakh registered users.
-  Open Government Data platform has been implemented which exposes government data to citizens. Currently 21,207 datasets from 100 Departments are available and 21.8 lakhs downloaded. 63,239 users have registered

## Pillar 7: Electronics Manufacturing - Target NET ZERO Imports

-  175  Investment  proposals  under  Modified  Specific  Incentive  Programmes  (MSIPs) having a proposed investment of Rs. 1.18 lakh crores have been so far received.
-  7 Greenfield Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) and 1 Common Facility Centre (CFC) in  Brownfield  have  been  approved.  In  principle  approval  has  been  given  to  17 Greenfield and 3 CFCs in Brownfield EMCs.
-  Electronic Development Fund has been launched and four daughter funds involving Rs. 169.00 crore have been approved.

## Pillar 8: IT for Jobs

-  48,300 seats have been approved under India BPO scheme and over 5000 seats have been approved for BPOs in North East.
-  5.5 lakh students have been trained for IT sector jobs by National Institute for Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT).
-  Telecom Sector Skill  Council  (TSSC) has  empanelled  157  training  partners  across  the country and trained 1.21 lakh persons so far in Telecom Training courses.
-  Around 33.74 lakh candidates have been enrolled for training, 24.43 lakh candidates have been trained and more than 6.35 lakh candidates have been certified so far under Digital Literacy Program (Digital Saksharta Abhiyan)

## Pillar 9: Early Harvest Programme

-  Secure email within government project has been implemented for 10 lakh employees in Phase I.
-  Wi-fi services have been commenced in 11 public wi-fi hotspots.
-  SMS based weather information and disaster alerts have been made operational.
-  Over 10.96 lakh residents have created their accounts on Digital Locker. More than 17.8 lakh documents have been uploaded on it.
-  More than 5.25 lakh Life Certificates have been successfully processed through Jeevan Pramaan portal.
-  Online Registration System (ORS) has been made operational in 26 hospitals and 1.49 lakh online appointments have been provided so far.
-  2.6 lakh documents have been digitized through Digitize India platform.
-  Since 15th August 2014, over 54 crore mailers have been sent on 163 campaigns through SAMPARK (IT platform for messages).
-  The Government e-Greetings have been sent to more than 10 lakh citizens directly from the portal. The portal has more over 438 cards.
-  Biometric Attendance has been implemented in 622 Central Government offices covering 1.77 lakh employees and 20 States/UTs involving 3 lakh employees.
-  On  the  National  Portal  for  Lost  &  Found  children  (Khoya-Paya),  4362  users  have registered, 2507 are being sighted and 718 missing children have been reported.
-  e-Basta, an electronic platform of e-Books for schools, have been made operational. Till date, 1250 e-Contents & 37 e-Basta (collection of books) have been made available and 798 e-Basta & 7732 e-Contents have been downloaded.
-  The National Scholarships Portal, a one stop solution for end to end scholarship process, have been implemented. 21 scholarship schemes from 9 Ministries / Departments have been registered and more than 1 crore applications submitted.

(b):    Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has executed a Joint Declaration of  Intent  with  Department  of  State  of  the  Government  of  USA  on  cooperation  in  the  field  of Information  &  Communications  Technology  and  Electronics.  Tripartite  MOUs  between  (i) Centre  for  Development  of  Advanced  Computing  (C-DAC),  Indian  Institute  of  Science Bangalore  &  Lomonsov  Moscow  State  University  (MSU)  on  Collaboration  for  Education  in High Performance Computing and (ii) C-DAC, Open Joint Stock Company 'GLONASS' Russia & GLONASS Union Russia on Cooperation for Development of Technologies and application based on Navigational Satellites were also signed.

(c):    An investment of Rs. 4.5 lakh crore has been committed by various companies on July 1, 2015 for Digital India programme.

-  Under Modified Specific Incentive Programmes (MSIPs), investments of nearly Rs. 1.18 lakh  crores  have  been  received,  which  would  generate  employment  to  nearly  1.62  lakh people.
-  Under the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) scheme proposals with a total outlay of Rs. 8,313 crore have been received, which would generate employment opportunities to about 8.29 lakh persons.
-  India  BPO  Promotion  Scheme  (IBPS)  with  an  outlay  of  about  Rs.493  crore  would generate employment opportunities for about 1.45 lakh persons.

(d):    Digital  India  is  being  implemented  and  funded  by  various  Ministries/Departments  in Government of India. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has made an  expenditure  of  Rs.  3036.77  crore  in  current  fiscal  till  31 st January  2016  for  various projects/schemes under the Digital India.

- (e):        The  Department  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (DeitY)  is  coordinating department  for  the  implementation  of  Digital  India.  The  monitoring  of  the  Digital  India programme has been envisaged through three committees namely,
- (i) Monitoring Committee on Digital India under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister

(ii) Digital India Advisory Group under the Chairmanship of Minister of  Communications and Information Technology

- (iii) Apex Committee on Digital India under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 160

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## GOOD GOVERNANCE WEEK

## 160.      SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a)        the  details  of  the  initiative  unveiled  under  'Digital  India'  during  the  'Good  Governance' week held last year;
- (b)      whether  the  initiatives  will  include  development  of  more  Indian  languages  on  digital platforms and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)     the funds government proposes to utilise on these initiatives in the current fiscal year?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a):    The  following  initiatives  have  been  launched  under  'Digital  India'  during  the  'Good Governance Week' held from 25 Dec to 31 Dec 2015:

## Digital Infrastructure:

-  National Centre for Geo Informatics for use of GIS in Government
-  National Informatics Centre (NIC's) 4 th Data Centre at Bhubaneswar
-  Initiating empanelment for private cloud services providers for e-Governance
-  Public wi-fi hotspots at Harki Pauri, Haridwar and Dargah Sharif, Ajmer
-  10 lakh connections with Next Generation Network (NGN) capacity
-  Dedication of 251st ATM Post Office to nation

## Digital Services:

-  Government Payment Portal enabling 100% e-Payment across the country
-  Mobile App for Digital Locker account holders
-  Transfer of Text To Speech Technology to industry in 9 Indian Languages
-  Installation  of  solar  panels  to  enable  rural  post  office  as  multi-service  delivery  centres and   launch of Post Terminals
-  12000th Post Office to offer Core Banking Solution
-  Pan India Free Roaming for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited(MTNL) customers

## Digital Empowerment:

-  Special Manpower Development Program for Chips to System Design
-  Online Labs (OLABs) (virtual laboratory for Class XI-XII) in all CBSE schools
-  Information Security Education Awareness (ISEA) Phase II programme
-  Capacity & Awareness of 1.14 lakh persons through 45 participating institutions
-  Digital India e-Newletter

## Industry Promotion:

-  All India BPO scheme to create 48,300 BPO seats in Tier II / Tier III towns
-  Dedicating 1st BPO centre under North East BPO scheme at Guwahati
-  Eight new Software Technology Parks of India(STPI) centres in Bihar, Odisha & Uttar Pradesh
-  Indigenously developed tactile books in Math developed by IIT - Delhi
-  Indigenously developed Digital Programmable Hearing aid by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing(CDAC),  Thiruvananthapuram

(b)  and  (c):    Yes,  Sir.  Under  Digital  India  programme,  Technology  for  Text-to-Speech  (TTS) System in 9 Indian languages has been transferred to OS Labs India Ltd for integrating the TTS in  indigenous  Android  based  Indus  OS(Operating  System)  in  Indian  languages.  Under  the ongoing  project  of  Text-to-speech  (TTS)  system  in  Indian  languages,  TTS  for  2  more  Indian languages is under development. The government has proposed to utilise Rs. 1.46 crore on these initiatives in the current fiscal year.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 193

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## IT ACCESSIBILITY IN RURAL AREAS

## 193      COL.  SONARAM  CHOUDHARY:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) the salient features of the ongoing schemes implemented for making information technology more accessible across the country;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  efforts  made  to  make  information  technology  accessible  to  the  people residing in rural and remote areas;
- (c)  whether  effective  steps  are  being  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken  for  decentralisation  of information technology in the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)  The Government of India is implementing an umbrella programme, namely Digital India to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

(b)  The  Government  of  India  is  implementing  several  schemes/projects  to  make  information technology  accessible to the people residing in rural and  remote  areas.  The  following schemes/projects  are  specially  targeted  to  create  access  and  connectivity  in  rural  and  remote areas to enable people in these areas to participate in the Digital India programme:

- (i) Common  Services  Centres  (CSCs):  The  CSCs  are  Information  and  Communication Technology  (ICT) enabled kiosks with broadband connectivity to provide various Governments, private  and  social  services  at  the  doorstep  of  the  citizen.  As  on  date  1.43 lakh CSCs have been made operational in 36 States/UTs.
- (ii) Digital Literacy to the masses: DeitY is implementing following two Schemes namely (a) IT Mass Literacy (National Digital Literacy Mission) and (b) 'Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' ( दिशा ) under 'Digital India' for providing Digital Literacy to the masses.

So far, under the NDLM/DISHA schemes, around 49 lakh candidates have been registered, a total of 36.5 lakh students have been trained and approximately 14.5 lakh students have been certified. A total of 1875 organizations are working as Training Partners under these schemes.

- (iii) National  Optical  Fibre  Network  (NOFN):  The  Government  has  proposed  to  provide broadband  connectivity  to  2,50,000  Gram  Panchayats  under  NOFN  (renamed  now  as BharatNet) project. Optical fibre for broadband connectivity has reached to 40,333 Gram Panchayats and optical fiber cable has been laid for 94,689 kms.
- (iv) Rural Wireline Broadband  Scheme:  The  scheme  envisaged provision of wire-line broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas by leveraging the existing rural exchanges infrastructure  and  copper  wire-line  network.  This  scheme  has  been  implemented  at  panIndia  level  with  the  objective  to  make  the  rural  and  remote  areas  broadband  enabled  by facilitating  the  service  providers  in  creating  Broadband.  A  total  of  6,56,345  broadband connections have been provided and 15,671 kiosks have been set up in rural and remote areas.
- (v) Optical Fibre Network Augmentation, Creation and Management of Intra-District SDHQDHQ  OFC  Network:  For  provision  of  broadband  in  rural  areas,  sufficient  back-haul capacity is required to integrate the voice and data traffic from the access network in the rural  areas  to  their  core  network  by  strengthening  the  OFC  network.  Accordingly,  this scheme considers OFC Network augmentation between the blocks' HQ and Districts' HQ to  begin  with.  The  states  of  Assam,  Manipur,  Meghalaya,  Tripura,  Mizoram,  Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have been taken up for implementation.

(c) and  (d):   Yes, Sir. The Government of India is implementing 44 Mission Mode Projects and core  ICT  infrastructure  projects/schemes,  namely  State  Data  Centre  (SDC),  State  Wide  Area Network (SWAN), Common Service Centers (CSCs), State Portal and State  Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG). These schemes/projects are being implemented by Central Ministries/Departments and State/UT Governments and foster the decentralization of Information Technology at State/UT level.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 18

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## AADHAAR  CARD TO NRIs

## 18       SHRI PRAHLAD  SINGH PATEL:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether the Government proposes  to issue Aadhaar Cards to 'Non-Resident Indians' (NRIs);
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the time, by which the process for applications etc. is likely to be stated?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) to (c):    A proposal to assign all persons on the Indian soil (Resident Indian, Non-Resident Indians, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)/Person of Indian Origin (PIO) persons and visa holding visitors), a unique identity / identifier that  can be authenticated  on a digital platform at any time anywhere is under consideration of the Government.  No time frame has been formulated at this stage.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 152

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## MANUFACTURING  OF SET TOP BOXES

## 152

SHRI D.K. SURESH:

SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL: SHRI B.N. CHANDRAPPA:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether since the digitization of broadcasting sector the demand for indigenous set top boxes are on the rise;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to promote indigenous manufacture of set top box
- for cable/DTH TVs; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the action taken in this regard so far?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a)  and  (b):  Since  the  digitization  of  broadcasting  sector,  the  demand  for  indigenous  set  top  boxes  has increased  substantially.  As  per  the  Consumer  Electronics  and  Appliances  Manufacturers  Association (CEAMA), the indigenous production of Set Top Boxes (STBs) during 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16 (estimate) is as under:
- (c) and (d): Government is promoting indigenous manufacturing of STBs for cable/DTH TVs. Following major steps have been taken for promotion of indigenous manufacturing of STBs:
1. Tariff structure has been rationalized for indigenous manufacturers as under:
- (i) Basic  Customs  Duty  (BCD)  has  been  increased  to  10%  on  imported  set  top  boxes  to  provide protection to indigenous manufacturers.
- (ii) Major parts required for the manufacturing of STBs are permitted at zero BCD.
- (iii) The  issue  of  Central  Sales  Tax  being  charged  at  VAT  rate  (12.5%)  for  indigenous  STB manufacturers has been resolved by enabling the Multi System Operators (MSOs) to issue 'C' Form to indigenous manufacturers.
2. Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) provides subsidy for investments in capital expenditure  -  20%  for  investments  in  Special  Economic  Zones  (SEZs)  and  25%  in  non-SEZs  to  the indigenous manufactures of STBs.
3. Under  a  project  funded  by  the  DeitY,  an  Indian  Conditional  Access  System  (iCAS TM) )  has  been developed successfully. The iCAS TM is available to indigenous STB manufacturers at a price of USD 0.5 per license for a period of three years, as against market price of USD 4-5 per license for other competing products.

| Year                |   Indigenous Production (in million nos.) |
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 2013-14             |                                       4.5 |
| 2014-15             |                                       5.5 |
| 2015-16 (estimated) |                                       9   |

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 194

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

## APPLICATION OF IT IN AGRICULTURE

## 194. SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether scope of income avenues to farmers have arisen through application of Information Technology in agriculture;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has plans to introduce new information technology   initiatives for agriculture sector; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) to (d):   Yes, Sir. The Government of India is implementing 'National e-governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A)' in the entire country with a total project cost of Rs.885.79 crore. It aims to provide information to farmers free of cost on seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, Government schemes, soil health, crop management, farm machinery, fishery inputs, irrigation infrastructure, weather and marketing of agriculture produces through various Information & Communication Technologies  (ICT)  enabled  means  like  short  messaging  service  (SMS),  Interactive  Voice response system (IVRS) etc. Through these interventions the farmers productivity and income is bound to increase as lot of information to farmers that are being provided help them in taking rational decisions.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## RAJYA  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 384

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.02.2016

## INCREASE  IN CYBER BREACHES AND CRIMES

## 384 SHRI SALIM  ANSARI:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  cyber  breaches  and  cyber  crime  threats  have  increased  in  the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the steps Government proposes to take to curb cyber breaches and cyber crimes in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a):    With  the  proliferation  of  Information  Technology  and  related  services  there  is  a  rise  in number of cyber breaches and cyber crime threats in the country like elsewhere in the world.
- (b):  Information  relating  to  Cyber  Crime  cases,  cyber  incidents  and  banking  frauds  are registered/  maintained    in  the  country  by  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB),  Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) respectively. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also registers such cases.
- i) As per the latest cyber crime data made available by NCRB, a total of 2876, 4356 and 7201 Cyber Crime cases were registered under Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) during 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively.  A total of 601, 1337 and 2272 cases were registered under Cyber Crime related Sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) during 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively.
- ii) As per the information reported to and tracked by CERT-In, a total no. of 41319, 44679 and 49455 cyber security incidents including phishing, scanning, malicious code, website intrusion,  Denial  of  Service  etc.,  were  reported  during  the  year  2013,  2014  and  2015 respectively. In addition, 54677, 85659 and 61628 spam (unsolicited email) incidents were reported  to  CERT-In.    Over  a  period,  the  nature  and  pattern  of  incidents  have  become more sophisticated and complex.
- iii) As per the data made  available  by  RBI,  8765,  9500,  13083  and  11997  cases  related  to ATM/  Credit/  Debit  Cards  &  Net  Banking  related  frauds  were  reported  by  the  banks during 2012-13,13-14,14-15 and 15-16 (upto December 2015) respectively.
- iv) CBI has registered 56 cases (regular cases and Preliminary enquiry) during the last three years. This includes 11, 20 and 25 cases in the year 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively.

(c):    Government has taken various steps in the form of awareness, training, legal framework, emergency  response  and  implementation  of  best  practices  to  prevent  occurrence  of  cyber breaches and cyber crime threats.  Such steps include:

- i) The Information Technology Act, 2000 provides a comprehensive legal framework to address the issues connected with cyber crime, cyber attacks and security breaches of information technology infrastructure.
2. ii) Government  is  implementing  a  Framework  for  Enhancing  Cyber  Security,  with  a multi-layered  approach  for  ensuring  defence-in-depth  and  clear  demarcation  of responsibilities among the stakeholder organizations in the country.
3. iii) Government has established National Critical  Information  Infrastructure  Protection Centre (NCIIPC) as per the provisions of Section 70A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 for protection of Critical Information Infrastructure in the country.
4. iv) The  Indian  Computer  Emergency  Response  Team  (CERT-In)  issues  alerts  and advisories  regarding  latest  cyber  threats  and  countermeasures  on  regular  basis. CERT-In has published guidelines for securing IT infrastructure, which are available on its website (www.certin.org.in).  In order to detect variety of threats and imminent cyber attacks from outside the country, periodic scanning of cyber space is carried out.
- v) Government  has  formulated  Crisis  Management  Plan  for  countering  cyber  attacks and  cyber  terrorism  for  implementation  by  all  Ministries/  Departments  of  Central Government, State Governments and their organizations and critical sectors.
6. vi) Cyber  security  mock  drills  are  being  conducted  regularly  to  enable  assessment  of cyber security posture and preparedness of organizations in Government and critical sectors.
7. vii) Efforts  towards  setting  up  of  National  Cyber  Coordination  Centre  (NCCC)  to generate  necessary  situational  awareness  of  existing  and  potential  cyber  security threats and enable timely information sharing for proactive, preventive and protective actions by individual entities.
8. viii) CERT-In,  Department  of  Electronics  &  Information  Technology  (DEITY)  has initiated action with active participation of Service Providers and Industry to set up a Botnet  Cleaning  and  Malware  Analysis  centre  for  detection  of  computer  systems infected by malware and to notify, enable cleaning and securing systems of end users to prevent further malware infections.
9. ix) Cyber Crime Cells have been set up in all States and Union Territories for reporting and investigation of Cyber Crime cases.
- x) Government has set up cyber forensic training and investigation labs in the States of Kerala,  Assam,  Mizoram,  Nagaland,  Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura,  Meghalaya, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir for training of Law Enforcement and Judiciary in these States.
11. xi) Industry  associations  such  as  Data  Security  Council  of  India  (DSCI),  NASSCOM, Cyber  Forensic  Labs,  set  up  in  certain  States,  have  taken  up  tasks  of  awareness creation and training programmes on Cyber Crime investigation.
12. xii) Academia like National Law School, Bangalore and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad are also engaged in conducting several awareness and training programmes on Cyber Laws and Cyber crimes for judicial officers.
13. xiii) Number of Cyber forensics tools for collection, analysis, presentation of the digital evidence have been developed indigenously and such tools are being used by Law Enforcement Agencies.
14. xiv) Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) are involved in providing basic and advanced training to Law Enforcement Agencies, Forensic labs and judiciary on the procedures and methodology of collecting, analysing and presenting digital evidence.
15. xv) Government  has  formulated  a  set  of  investigation  manuals  with  procedures  for Search, Seizure Analysis and Presentation of digital evidence in courts.  The manuals have been circulated to Law Enforcement Agencies in all States.
16. xvi) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issues Circulars/advisories to all Commercial Banks on phishing attacks and preventive / detective measures to tackle phishing attacks.  RBI also issues advisories relating to fictitious offers of funds transfer, remittance towards participation  in  lottery,  money  circulation  schemes  and  other  fictitious  offers  of cheap funds.
17. xvii) Department  of  Electronics  &  Information  Technology  (DEITY)  is  conducting programs  to  generate  information  security  awareness.  Specific  books,  videos  and online materials are  developed  for  children,  parents  and  general users  about information security which are disseminated through Portals like 'www.infosecawareness.in', 'www.secureyourelectronics.in' and 'www.certin.org.in'.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## RAJYA  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 393

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.02.2016

## REVIEW OF EXISTING CYBER LAWS

## 393 DR. T. SUBBARAMI  REDDY: SHRIMATI  AMBIKA SONI:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether  Government  has  reviewed  the  existing  cyber  laws  in  view  of  the  discussion  on Conference on Cyber Crime and Cyber Security, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the laws would be updated to meet the challenges in view of the emerging new kinds of cybercrimes;
- (c) Whether any specific  legislation  would  be  brought  to  deal  with  the  challenge  of  rise  of 'dark net' where illegal data sharing takes place by individuals, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a):    Various  national  and  international  conferences  are  regularly  organised  on  the  subject  of Cyber Crime and Cyber Security by different forums. Government considers the recommendation and views emerging out of such conferences.
- (b) and (c):  The Information Technology Act, 2000 provides a  legal framework for addressing all types of prevailing cyber crimes as reported in the country. However, challenges are faced by Law Enforcement Agencies, when dark net/ dark web technologies are used by cyber criminals, as they provide restricted access as well as prevent monitoring through encryption. In view of increasing use of dark net to carry out malicious activities, evolving effective legal solution has been  drawing  the  attention  of  governments/  legal  communities  worldwide.  Government  is  in touch  with  international  organisations  and  keeps  track  of  developments  by  other  nations  to evolve suitable legal mechanism.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 395

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.02.2016

## PRIVACY AND SECURITY OF DATA UNDER AADHAAR

## 395. SHRI DEREK O BRIEN:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) The  measures  undertaken  by  Government  to  ensure  the  privacy  and  security  of  data collected under the Aadhaar programme;
- (b) The details of regulatory measures implemented to ensure that the data collected under Aadhaar is not misused; and
- (c) Whether Government plans to introduce legislation to give Aadhaar a legal basis and introduce legal privacy and security requirements, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)  and  (b): The  architecture  of  Aadhaar  ecosystem  has  been  designed  to  ensure  data security,  privacy,  non-duplication,  data  integrity  and  other  related  management  aspects  of data in Aadhaar database.  Government is fully alive to the need to maintain highest level of data security and integrity and is constantly upgrading the technology and infrastructure. For this  purpose,  a  well-  designed  and  robust  data  security  system  is  in  place.  Security  is  an integral part of the system from the initial design to the final stage and security audits are conducted periodically. Security of data is monitored at all the times i.e. at rest, in transit and in  storage.  Security  and  privacy  of  personal  data  are  fully  ensured,  without  sacrificing  the utility of the project. Recently, UIDAI has been declared ISO 27001:2013 certified by STQC with respect to Information Security which has added another layer of IT security assurance. In pursuance of sub-section (1) of Section 70 of the IT Act 2000, UIDAI data has also been declared  as  Protected  system  by  National  Critical  Information  Infrastructure  Protection Centre. Additionally, various policies and procedures have been defined clearly which are reviewed  and  updated  continually  thereby  appropriately  controlling  and  monitoring  any movement of people, material and data in and out of UIDAI premises, particularly the data centres. Further strengthening of security and privacy of data is an ongoing process, and all possible steps are being taken to make the data safe and protected.

(c): Yes, Sir.  The  National  Identification  Authority  of  India  Bill  (NIDAI  Bill),  2010  was introduced  in  the  Rajya  Sabha  on  3rd  December,  2010.    A  Notice  for  introduction  of  the Official  Amendments  was  moved  in  the  Rajya  Sabha  on  28-11-2013,  subsequent  to  the report of the Standing Committee on Finance.  The Bill is pending for consideration of Rajya Sabha.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 373

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.02.2016

## FINANCING INDIGENOUS PROJECTS OF HIGH-END TECHNOLOGIES

## 373 DR. K.P. RAMALINGAM:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether it is a fact that Ministry will   finance indigenous projects working on developing 5G, wearable  computers,  Internet  of  Things  and  other  high-end  technologies,  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (b) whether it is also a fact  that Convergence Communications and Broadband Technologies has invited proposals for financial support from scientists, academic and R&D institutions among others,  if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a): Yes,  Sir.    DeitY  is  supporting  projects  in  the  areas  of  5G,  Internet  of  Things  (IoT), wearable  computing,  and  other  high  end  technologies  through  call  for  proposals  amongst academia, R&D  institutions and industry associations which results in development of indigenous technologies. A collaborative research project on 5G by premier academic institutesIISc, IITs & CEWiT (Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology) has been recently initiated for the development of advanced simulators and prototype. A Centre for Excellence for IoT in partnership between Education and Research Network (ERNET) and NASSCOM has been set up by the department with matching funding from both agencies.
- (b): Yes,  Sir.    More  than  40  R&D  project  proposals  have  been  received  in  the  area  of Convergence, Communications, Broadband Technologies and Strategic Electronics. The proposals received are presented before the group of experts for evaluation and recommendations for financial support.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 371

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.02.2016

## NEW  CYBER  SPACE POLICY

## 371 DR. K.P. RAMALINGAM:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether Government has made it mandatory to keep a copy of all their communications in the Cyber space, including e-mails and chats for a period of 90 days and be able to make it available to security agencies when demanded; if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  Government  has  made  it  clear  that  this  policy  initiative  will  not  impact  the common man; and
- (c) whether  a  fact  according  to  cyber  law  experts,  the  proposed  steps  would  find  almost everyone using the Internet in violation of these rules and that this policy is detached from the ground realities?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a),  (b)  and  (c):    A  High  Level  Expert  Committee's  draft  recommendations  on  Encryption Policy  were  put  up  on  the  website  of  Department  of  Electronics  and  IT  (DeitY)  for  public comments.    The  draft  recommendations  included  keeping  a  copy by  the users of all communications encrypted by the users.  Government noted the public sentiments viz-a-viz the draft recommendations.  Government clarified that the draft recommendations are not the final view  of  the  Government  on  the  matter.    Further,  Government  took  note  of  the  ambiguity  in some portions of the draft that may have led to misgivings.  Hence, the draft recommendations of the policy were withdrawn.  The Government fully respects the upholding of right to privacy of citizens and acknowledges the need for protection of private data against misuse.  There is no intention by the Government to implement an encryption policy breaching the right to privacy of public.  The encryption has been recognized by the Government as means to securing data / transactions  and  the  provision  in  the  Information  Technology  Act  2000  enables  the  use  of encryption for such purposes.   Government has initiated steps to revise the Encryption policy recommendations with wide consultation with stakeholders.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 394

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.02.2016

## EXPANDING NETWORK OF COMMON SERVICE CENTRES IN VILLAGES

## 394 SHRIMATI  WANSUK  SYIEM:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a)   whether as part of the mission Digital India, Government proposes to expand the network of  Common Service Centres  in  villages  to  develop  ancillary  units  in  textiles  and  handicrafts helping employment generation; and
- (b) whether Government has roped in e-commerce companies to make use of the 1 lakh strong network of Common Service Centres across the Country, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a):  CSC 2.0 Scheme under Digital India- Pillar 3-Public Internet Access Programme - National Rural  Internet  Mission  envisages  to  establish  self  sustaining  network  of  2.5  lakh  Common Services  Centres  (CSCs)  at  Gram  Panchayat  (GP)  level  and  deliver  a  large  bouquet  of government and non-government services including services under e-Commerce.
- (b): CSC e-Governance Services India Limited -SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) has tied up with Snapdeal, Flifkart and Infibeam - the major e-Commerce companies for enabling delivery of ecommerce services through CSCs.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  383

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.02.2015

## JOB INSECURITY IN IT INDUSTRY

## 383.       DR. K.V.P. RAMACHANDRA RAO:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether  the  IT  industry,  particularly  MNCs  based  in  Hyderabad  and  Bengaluru,  are adopting  hire  and  fire  practices  leading  to  lack  of  job  security  and  high  levels  of frustration, often resulting in suicides;
- (b) if so, the steps Government is contemplating to change the scenario;
- (c) whether it is  a  fact  that  long  working  hours  in  IT  companies,  involving  regular  night shifts, has become a health hazard; and
- (d) if  so,  whether  Government  is  considering  to  intervene  for  putting  in  place  corrective measures?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) and (b):   No, Sir. According to National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the Indian Information Technology & Information Technology enabled Services (IT-ITES)  industry  continues  to  be  the  largest  private  sector  employer  and  a  net  hirer  of personnel, having created over 1.1 million jobs directly in the last 5 years.

(c) and (d):   No, Sir. The employers in the IT-ITES sector, like other sectors in India is governed by the Government of India and State Government's rules and laws related to labour / employee welfare.    According  to  NASSCOM,  most  large  and  established  IT-ITES  companies  offer Recreation  and  Gym  facility  for  enabling  a  healthy  life  style  within  office  premises.    The  IT sector  has  educated  employees,  where  increasingly  flexi  hours,  work  from  home  practices  are being introduced to help employees maintain work life balance.

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