Lok Sabha Question No. 267 (STARRED), answered on 2016-03-16
Subject: Common Service Centres
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: ANURAG SINGH THAKUR

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *267

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 16.03.2016

## COMMON SERVICE CENTRES

## *267 SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR:

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

- (a) the  number  of  Common Service Centres set  up during  last  three  years  and  the  current year so far, year and State-wise;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  fixed  any  target  for  setting  up  more  Common  Service Centres and if so, the details thereof, year and State-wise;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  have  one  Common  Service  Centre  per  Gram Panchayat and if so, the action taken in this direction; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  survey  regarding  the  functioning  of established Common Service Centres, and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO *267 FOR 16-03-2016 REGARDING  COMMON SERVICE CENTRES

*******

- (a):  The year and state wise status of setting up of Common Services Centre (CSC) during last three years ( 2013 to 2015) and till February-2016 are at Annexure-A.
- (b):   Yes, Sir. The year and state-wise details are at Annexure-B.
- (c):   Yes, Sir. The following actions have been taken by the Government :
-  'CSC 2.0: A Way Forward' Project has been approved, in which it has been decided to establish additional 1.50 lakhs CSCs (from existing One lakh CSCs) to cover at least one CSC in every Gram Panchayat across the country.
-  The Implementation Guidelines has been issued to States/ UTs. (http://deity.gov.in/content/csc2.0-way-forward-0)
-  Advisory has been issued by Ministry of Panchayati Raj to all States and UTs, requesting to colocate  the  CSCs  in  the  Gram  Panchayat  (GP)  Premises  or  provide  suitable  space  near  the  GP Bhawans.
-  District and State level workshops have been organised in different States across the Country to encourage/motivate villagers to engage themselves as CSC VLEs.
-  A National level workshop for Women has been organised in New Delhi to encourage/motivate the women to become successful entrepreneurs through CSCs.
-  A State  level  workshop  for  all  the  Village  Level  Entrepreneurs  (VLEs)  of  Haryana  has  been organised  recently  to  encourage/motivate  award/incentivise  the  villagers  to  become  successful through CSCs.

In  addition,  during the last 2  years, the following significant improvements have been made under CSC Scheme -

-  Number  of  Active  CSCs  have  increased  to  1,57,040  as  on  29.02.2016  from  83,950  (as  on 31.05.2014);
-  New Services namely Banking, Insurance and Pension under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana have made CSCs very vibrant;
-  Digital Saksharata Abhiyan (DISHA) for undertaking digital literacy has enabled active citizen participation through CSCs;
-  About 600 workshops at Central/State/District level have been organised across the Country for training and advocacy;
-  Railway,  Passport,  Election,  Educational  Services  of  National  Institute  of  Electronics  & Information Technology (NIELIT) and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) have been rolled out through CSCs;
-  Aadhaar Enrolment/Updation has been enabled through CSCs;
-  The Government is determined to include the women and marginalised sections of the society in the CSC movement significantly. The following actions have been take :
- o Government has already issued guidelines to give preference to women as VLEs;
- o Awards/Incentives  are  being  conferred  to  successful  Women  Village  Level  Entrepreneurs (VLEs);
- o To encourage more participation of women, success stories are being published in monthly eMagazine and News Letter.
- o 500 women belonging to weaker sections were trained under DISHA to become VLEs.
- (d): Yes, Sir.  The following assessment studies/ surveys have been got conducted by the Government:
1. Mid  Term  Assessment  of  CSC  Initiative  (  Indian  Market  Research  Bureau  International, April 2010): The findings are at Annexure- C
2. Impact Assessment of Indian Common Services Centres (International Telecommunications Unions, May 2013): The findings are at Annexure- D.
3. Assessment Study of Common Services Centres in Seven States (CIPS, March 2014): The finding are at Annexure-E.

*******

## Annexure-A

| YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative)   | YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative)   |   YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative) |   YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative) |   YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative) | YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative)   |
|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Sl No.                                       | State                                        |                                         2013 |                                         2014 |                                         2015 | Till Feb-2016                                |
| 1                                            | Andhra Pradesh                               |                                         3932 |                                         4116 |                                         4550 | 4893                                         |
| 2                                            | Arunachal Pradesh                            |                                          169 |                                          200 |                                          200 | 200                                          |
| 3                                            | Assam                                        |                                         3659 |                                         3915 |                                         2753 | 3816                                         |
| 4                                            | Bihar                                        |                                         7027 |                                         8286 |                                         8243 | 8894                                         |
| 5                                            | Chhattisgarh                                 |                                         2068 |                                         4394 |                                         5100 | 6416                                         |
| 6                                            | Goa                                          |                                           12 |                                            0 |                                            0 | 0                                            |
| 7                                            | Gujarat                                      |                                        12910 |                                        13685 |                                        13685 | 14708                                        |
| 8                                            | Haryana                                      |                                            2 |                                          228 |                                         1932 | 2060                                         |
| 9                                            | Himachal Pradesh                             |                                         2372 |                                         3336 |                                         3036 | 3442                                         |
| 10                                           | Jammu &Kashmir                               |                                          849 |                                          989 |                                         1111 | 1226                                         |
| 11                                           | Jharkhand                                    |                                         4393 |                                         4693 |                                         4705 | 4752                                         |
| 12                                           | Karnataka                                    |                                          822 |                                          904 |                                          904 | 1148                                         |
| 13                                           | Kerala                                       |                                         1913 |                                         2004 |                                         2682 | 2779                                         |
| 14                                           | Madhya Pradesh                               |                                        10126 |                                        13207 |                                        13207 | 13651                                        |
| 15                                           | Maharashtra                                  |                                        25003 |                                        31272 |                                        31207 | 32313                                        |
| 16                                           | Manipur                                      |                                          388 |                                          392 |                                          399 | 526                                          |
| 17                                           | Meghalaya                                    |                                          196 |                                          227 |                                          221 | 235                                          |
| 18                                           | Mizoram                                      |                                          122 |                                          136 |                                           43 | 136                                          |
| 19                                           | Nagaland                                     |                                          109 |                                          220 |                                           45 | 239                                          |
| 20                                           | Orissa                                       |                                         4636 |                                         6335 |                                         5469 | 7391                                         |
| 21                                           | Punjab                                       |                                         2075 |                                         3569 |                                         3567 | 3778                                         |
| 22                                           | Rajasthan                                    |                                         4720 |                                         7453 |                                        10360 | 9795                                         |
| 23                                           | Sikkim                                       |                                           24 |                                            0 |                                          191 | 196                                          |
| 24                                           | Tamil Nadu                                   |                                         1878 |                                         1130 |                                         5440 | 5625                                         |
| 25                                           | Telangana                                    |                                            0 |                                         3464 |                                          843 | 3616                                         |
| 26                                           | Tripura                                      |                                          146 |                                          146 |                                          202 | 206                                          |
| 27                                           | Uttar Pradesh                                |                                        14079 |                                        17882 |                                        19776 | 36479                                        |
| 28                                           | Uttarakhand                                  |                                         1487 |                                         2079 |                                         2152 | 2300                                         |
| 29                                           | West Bengal                                  |                                         5972 |                                         6337 |                                         5534 | 7040                                         |
| STATES                                       | TOTAL                                        |                                       111089 |                                       140599 |                                       147557 | 177860                                       |

| YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative)   | YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative)   |   YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative) |   YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative) |   YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative) | YEAR - WISE CSC SET UP STATUS (Cumulative)   |
|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Sl No.                                       | Union Territory                              |                                         2013 |                                         2014 |                                         2015 | Till Feb- 2016                               |
| 1                                            | Andaman and Nicobar                          |                                            0 |                                           35 |                                           35 | 36                                           |
| 2                                            | Chandigarh                                   |                                            1 |                                           28 |                                           28 | 29                                           |
| 3                                            | Dadra and Nagar Haveli                       |                                            0 |                                            8 |                                            9 | 60                                           |
| 4                                            | Daman and Diu                                |                                            0 |                                            1 |                                            7 | 43                                           |
| 5                                            | Delhi                                        |                                           75 |                                           91 |                                           91 | 172                                          |

| 6   | Lakshadweep   |     13 |     15 |     15 |     15 |
|-----|---------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| 7   | Puducherry    |     55 |     56 |     56 |     62 |
|     | UTs TOTAL     |    144 |    234 |    241 |    417 |
| 36  | GRAND TOTAL   | 111233 | 140833 | 147798 | 178277 |

## Annexure-B

The State / UT-wise target to cover Gram Panchayats with CSC is as follows:

| Sl No.   | State             |   Total GPs planned |   GPs to be covered by March 2016 |   GPs to be covered by Dec 2016 |
|----------|-------------------|---------------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |               12833 |                             12833 |                           12833 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                1779 |                               923 |                            1779 |
| 3        | Assam             |                2196 |                              2196 |                            2196 |
| 4        | Bihar             |                8463 |                              6050 |                            8463 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |                9734 |                              5752 |                            9734 |
| 6        | Goa               |                 189 |                               189 |                             189 |
| 7        | Gujarat           |               13735 |                             13735 |                           13735 |
| 8        | Haryana           |                6155 |                              6155 |                            6155 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  |                3243 |                              2042 |                            3243 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir    |                4128 |                              1213 |                            4128 |
| 11       | Jharkhand         |                4423 |                              2962 |                            4423 |
| 12       | Karnataka         |                5628 |                              5628 |                            5628 |
| 13       | Kerala            |                 979 |                               979 |                             979 |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh    |               23012 |                             14643 |                           23012 |
| 15       | Maharashtra       |               27920 |                             24123 |                           27920 |
| 16       | Manipur           |                 165 |                               165 |                             165 |
| 17       | Meghalaya         |                1463 |                               703 |                            1463 |
| 18       | Mizoram           |                 776 |                               392 |                             776 |
| 19       | Nagaland          |                1123 |                               543 |                            1123 |
| 20       | Orissa            |                6234 |                              4289 |                            6234 |
| 21       | Punjab            |               12800 |                              6650 |                           12800 |
| 22       | Rajasthan         |                9946 |                              9946 |                            9946 |
| 23       | Sikkim            |                 165 |                               135 |                             165 |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu        |               12618 |                             12618 |                           12618 |
| 25       | Telangana         |                8787 |                              8787 |                            8787 |
| 26       | Tripura           |                1038 |                               552 |                            1038 |
| 27       | Uttar Pradesh     |               51914 |                             32948 |                           51914 |
| 28       | Uttarakhand       |                7555 |                              3438 |                            7555 |
| 29       | West Bengal       |                3351 |                              2765 |                            3351 |
|          | STATES TOTAL      |              242352 |                            183354 |                          242352 |

| Sl No.   | Union Territory   | Total GPs   | GPs to be covered by   | GPs to be covered by   |
|----------|-------------------|-------------|------------------------|------------------------|

|    |                        |   planned |   March 2016 |   Dec 2016 |
|----|------------------------|-----------|--------------|------------|
| 1  | Andaman and Nicobar    |        69 |            1 |         69 |
| 2  | Chandigarh             |        17 |           17 |         17 |
| 3  | Dadra and Nagar Haveli |        11 |           11 |         11 |
| 4  | Daman and Diu          |        14 |           14 |         14 |
| 5  | Delhi                  |         0 |            0 |          0 |
| 6  | Lakshadweep            |        10 |           10 |         10 |
| 7  | Puducherry             |        98 |           98 |         98 |
|    | UTs TOTAL              |       219 |          151 |        219 |
| 36 | GRAND TOTAL            |    242571 |       183505 |     242571 |

## ANNEXURE-C

## Mid Term Assessment of CSC Initiative (IMRB, April 2010)

The  assessment  was  conducted  through  Indian  Market  Research  Bureau  International (IMRB International) to understand whether the CSC Scheme rollout has been taking place in the right  direction  and  collect  feedback  on  the  CSC  Scheme  from  various  stakeholders  likewise: Village  Level  Entrepreneurs  (VLE),  Service  Center  Agencies  (SCA),  Citizens,  Government Agencies  (GA),  Local  Level  Intervening  Institutions  (LLII)  and  National  Level  Service Providers (NLSP).

The survey was conducted across 19 states covering 15 SCAs. A structured questionnaire was  administered  to  respondents  across  the  above  segments  to  capture  their  experiences  and views on different aspects related to the CSC Scheme.

The key observation results of the assessment are as follows:

- a) 58% of the CSCs were operational, while 38% were yet to be established. Further, 4% had shut down.
- b) Almost half (46%) of the CSCs were open 7 days a week - providing rural citizens with additional flexibility to access services.
- c) More  than  95%  of  the  VLEs  interviewed  were  found  to  be  SSC/HSC  or  with  higher educational qualifications.
- d) 10% of the VLEs were found to be female - indicating that the CSC Scheme is creating a movement for empowering women in rural areas.
- e) More than half of the VLEs were found to have received some training and most of them were satisfied with this training across parameters.
- f) 74% of the CSCs earned less than Rs 3000 per month. For 45% of the VLEs, operating a CSC is the only source of income.
- g) Government Functionaries cited frequent power cuts as a common reason impacting the CSC usage.
- h) As per the village head, central location of the CSC (59%) and reasonable service charges (58%) are the top 2 driving forces for the usage of the CSCs.

ANNEXURE-D

Impact Assessment of Indian Common Services Centres (International Telecommunications Union, May 2013)

The study focused on offering the status report of the CSCs as well as identifying and highlighting the best practices and successful models within the scheme. In doing so, the study highlighted the challenges facing the scheme, especially the ones that take the scheme away from realising the implementation of CSCs.

The  study  helped  to  gain  an  understanding  of  the  situation  that  prevails  in the implementation of the CSC scheme. In addition, the study compared Indian CSCs with the global telecentre movement and highlighted the best practices that have emerged in India. This has also helped in offering recommendations for strengthening the scheme.

The key observation results of the assessment are as follows:

- a) USO funds are required for addressing access and content needs of the CSCs
- b) Legal and institutional framework are required to maximise the use of CSCs
- c) Encourage local level R&D to stimulate local innovations and contributions to CSCs
- d) CSC SPV for stimulating partnerships for delivering services through CSCs
- e) Consider recognising all public access points for CSC up scaling plan
- f) Developing service level charter to move towards professionalising the CSCs
- g) Developing common branding to achieve impact
- h) Constitution of Indian CSC network as a means to encourage peer-learning
- i) Consider investing in developing a CSC ecosystem
- j) Develop outcome mapping exercise to establish credibility and long-term sustainability

## ANNEXURE-E

## Assessment Study of Common Services Centres in Seven States (CIPS, March 2014)

An  independent  assessment  study  was  conducted  through  Centre  for  Innovations  in Public  Systems  (CIPS),  Hyderabad.  The  States  of  Andhra  Pradesh,  Jammu  &  Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tripura were identified for the study.

The purpose of the study was to obtain meaningful pointers as regards (i) the nature and extent  of  the  success  of  the  CSC  project  in  achieving  its  purpose  and  objectives;  (ii)  the administrative issues affecting the performance  of the CSCs; and (iii) the sustainability of the CSCs in the long run.

Study reveals that following are some aspects, which if addressed appropriately, would contribute to greater success of the CSC scheme.

-  The states do realize that CSC is an important vehicle for providing citizen services and as a part  of  the  larger  reform  agenda  of  transforming  the  socio-economic  status  of  the  rural populace.
-  Greater role by DeitY in policy and resource support through a steering committee approach,
-  Strengthening of the institutional framework,
-  Greater involvement of district administration in the implementation of the CSC Scheme,

It also emerged that the success of the CSCs depends on the following:

- VLE is a woman
- CSCs have high visibility
- Militancy is not affecting CSC operations
- Floor area is more or higher no of counters
- Internet availability is longer is better
- Electricity is available
- CSCs have power backup
- Availability of power supply is better
- CSC is the only source of income for VLE
- VLE is educated & have computer knowledge
- Suitable training is given to VLE
- Promotional campaigns by SCA and VLE are higher
- CSC is the only source of income for VLE

********