Lok Sabha Question No. 256 (STARRED), answered on 2016-08-03
Subject: Telecom Facility to Gram Panchayats
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: C.S. PUTTARAJU, BHAVANA GAWALI (PATIL)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.256 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 RD  AUGUST, 2016

## TELECOM FACILITY TO GRAM PANCHAYATS

- *256.   SHRI C.S. PUTTA RAJU: SHRIMATI BHAVANA PUNDALIKRAO GAWALI PATIL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  provided  telephone  and  other  Communication facilities  to  all  Gram  Panchayats  especially  in  the  backward  and  tribal  areas  of  the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the number of Gram Panchayats which are yet to be provided with telecom facility, State-wise including Karnataka; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to provide better telecom facility to Gram Panchayats?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

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

Contd…2/-

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK    SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  256    FOR  3 RD AUGUST, 2016 REGARDING 'TELECOM FACILITY TO GRAM PANCHAYATS'.

(a) to (c) Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  has  provided  Village  Public Telephone  (VPT)  facility  to  2,41,279  Gram  Panchayats  out  of  2,42,198  Gram Panchayats on PAN India basis. Remaining 919 Village Panchayats have not been provided  with  VPT  facilities  due  to  various  reasons  such  as  thick  forest,  no inhabitation,  submergence  with  urban  areas  and  security  concerns  etc.  VPTs  have been provided in all the Gram Panchayats (5713) in Karnataka. The state / circle wise status  of  Gram  Panchyats  with  regard  to  VPT  facility  as  on  30.06.2016  is  at Annexure-I. The  VPT scheme was started in 2003 when the penetration of mobile telephony was low. It has now lost much of its relevance due to widespread use of mobile phone even in rural areas.

5,41,939  villages  out  of  total  5,97,608  villages  in  the  country  are  already covered  with  mobile  services,  leaving  only  55,669  villages,  i.e.,  9.31%,  without coverage.  (State-wise  details  of  uncovered  villages  are  at Annexure-II ).  Mobile coverage to balance uncovered villages is likely to be provided in a phased manner over a period of five years.

National  Optical  Fibre  Network  (NOFN)  project,  renamed  as  BharatNet,  has planned  to  establish  a  network  infrastructure by connecting  all  Gram  Panchayats (approx.  2.5  lakh)  in  the  country  through  Optical  Fibre  Cable  (OFC)   by  using  an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre over power lines, radio and satellite media, for providing  broadband  connectivity  by  all  categories  of  service  providers  on  nondiscriminatory basis.

The project is planned to be implemented in three phases.  Under first phase of the project, 1 lakh  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  are  to  be  connected  by  laying underground OFC by March 2017. Under second phase, connectivity will be provided to remaining 1.5 lakh GPs in the country using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre over power lines, radio and satellite media, by December, 2018. A state- of- theart future-proof network, including fibre between districts and blocks and with for 5G services  and  Internet  of  Things  era  with  underground  OFC  in  ring  architecture,  is planned to be completed by 2023 under third phase.

As on 16.07.2016, Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid to 54,635 Gram Panchayats (GPs) with a total length of 1,26,853 km. Out of these, 7342 GPs have been provided with broadband connectivity.

The Department has taken several measures for expansion and improvement of telecommunication services in rural and remote areas as given below:

(i)  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  the  North-Eastern  Region (NER): On  10.09.2014,  the  Government  approved  a  proposal  to  implement  a Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  the  North-Eastern  Region  (NER). The  Project  envisages  providing  mobile  coverage  to  8621  identified  uncovered villages by installation of about 6673 mobile towers, installation of 321 mobile tower sites along National Highways and strengthening of transmission network in the NER. The estimated cost of implementation is Rs. 5336.18 crore.  The Project would be funded  from  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF).  The  tenders  for  setting  of towers have already been floated.

(ii)  Mobile  Communication Services in LWE affected areas: 2199 mobile towers are being set up in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States with a total estimated cost of Rs.3567.58 crore. It will cover about 3000 villages in 10 LWE affected States. 2056 mobile towers are operational as on 18.07.2016.

(iii) Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands: Telecom Commission has given 'in principle' approval on 07.11.2014 for Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan including provision of mobile connectivity for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands with a total estimated investment of Rs. 221.05 crore.

## (iv)  Provision of Mobile Services in Himalayan and Border States:

Work for preparation of  Detailed Project Reports (DPR) in respect of  4752 uncovered  villages  in  Himalayan  States  (Jammu  &  Kashmir,  Himachal  Pradesh and Uttarakhand) and 2138 villages Border States (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana) has been entrusted to M/s Telecom Consultations India Limited (TCIL).

Contd…….4/-

Annexure-I State/Circle-wise status of the VPT facilities (As on 30-06-2016)

| S. N.   | Name of Telecom Circle/State   |   No. of Village Panchyats |   No. of Village Panchyats provided with telephone facilities |   No. of Village Panchyats yet to be provided with telephone facilities | Remark       |
|---------|--------------------------------|----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|
| 1       | Andaman & Nicobar Islands      |                         69 |                                                            69 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh                 |                      21870 |                                                         21747 |                                                                     123 | Non Feasible |
| 3       | Assam                          |                       2283 |                                                          2283 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 4       | Bihar                          |                       8412 |                                                          8411 |                                                                       1 | Non Feasible |
| 5       | Jharkhand                      |                       4562 |                                                          4562 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 6       | Gujarat                        |                      14855 |                                                         14843 |                                                                      12 | Non Feasible |
| 7       | Haryana                        |                       6083 |                                                          6083 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 8       | Himachal Pradesh               |                       3241 |                                                          3241 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 9       | Jammu & Kashmir                |                       4128 |                                                          4116 |                                                                      12 | Non Feasible |
| 10      | Karnataka                      |                       5713 |                                                          5713 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 11      | Kerala                         |                        978 |                                                           978 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 12      | Madhya Pradesh                 |                      23710 |                                                         23710 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 13      | Chhattisgarh                   |                      10757 |                                                         10576 |                                                                     181 | Non Feasible |
| 14      | Maharashtra                    |                      28089 |                                                         28089 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 15      | North-East- I*                 |                       1038 |                                                          1038 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 16      | North-East- II**               |                       1795 |                                                          1268 |                                                                     527 | Non Feasible |
| 17      | Odisha                         |                       6236 |                                                          6173 |                                                                      63 | Non Feasible |
| 18      | Punjab                         |                      12317 |                                                         12317 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 19      | Rajasthan                      |                       9177 |                                                          9177 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 20      | Tamil Nadu                     |                      13837 |                                                         13837 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 21      | Uttar Pradesh (East)           |                      37455 |                                                         37455 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 22      | Uttar Pradesh (West)           |                      14516 |                                                         14516 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 23      | Uttarakhand                    |                       7546 |                                                          7546 |                                                                       0 | -            |
| 24      | West Bengal                    |                       3531 |                                                          3531 |                                                                       0 | -            |
|         | Total                          |                     242198 |                                                        241279 |                                                                     919 |              |

Contd……..5/-

## State-wise list of Uncovered Villages

| Sr.No.   | Name of the State/UT   | Total number of inhabited villages   |   No. of Uncovered Villages |
|----------|------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh         | 16335                                |                        3812 |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh      | 5258                                 |                        2886 |
| 3.       | Assam                  | 25372                                |                        2885 |
| 4.       | Bihar                  | 39073                                |                        2534 |
| 5.       | Chhattisgarh           | 19567                                |                        4041 |
| 6.       | Goa                    | 320                                  |                          65 |
| 7.       | Gujarat                | 17843                                |                        1275 |
| 8.       | Haryana                | 6642                                 |                           2 |
| 9.       | Himachal Pradesh       | 17882                                |                        2416 |
| 10.      | Jammu & Kashmir        | 6337                                 |                         460 |
| 11.      | Jharkhand              | 29492                                |                        5949 |
| 12.      | Karnataka              | 27397                                |                           0 |
| 13.      | Kerala                 | 1017                                 |                           0 |
| 14.      | Madhya Pradesh         | 51929                                |                        5926 |
| 15.      | Maharashtra            | 40959                                |                        4792 |
| 16.      | Manipur                | 2515                                 |                         610 |
| 17.      | Meghalaya              | 6459                                 |                        2389 |
| 18.      | Mizoram                | 704                                  |                         258 |
| 19.      | Nagaland               | 1400                                 |                         137 |
| 20.      | Odisha                 | 47675                                |                       10398 |
| 21.      | Punjab                 | 12168                                |                          91 |
| 22.      | Rajasthan              | 43264                                |                         770 |
| 23.      | Sikkim                 | 425                                  |                          23 |
| 24.      | Tamil Nadu             | 15049                                |                         113 |
| 25.      | Telangana              | 10347                                |                        1009 |
| 26.      | Tripura                | 863                                  |                           2 |
| 27.      | Uttar Pradesh          | 97814                                |                         266 |
| 28.      | Uttarakhand            | 15745                                |                        1876 |
| 29.      | West Bengal            | 37469                                |                         487 |
| 30.      | Andaman & Nicobar      | 684                                  |                         190 |
| 31.      | Puducherry             |                                      |                           0 |
| 32.      | Dadra & Nagar Haveli   |                                      |                           5 |
| 33.      | Daman & Diu            |                                      |                           1 |
| 34.      | Lakshadweep            |                                      |                           1 |
|          | TOTAL                  | 597608                               |                       55669 |

***********

## Annexure-II