(a) whether all the villages in the State of Maharashtra have been connected with telephone facility;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether there are many villages in the State where telephone facility is not available till date; and
(d) if so, the details thereof, district-wise and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS,
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)
(a) to (d) As per the data collected from the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) field units in 2019, it is estimated that there are 2989 inhabited villages (as per census 2011 data) in Maharashtra, which are not covered by mobile services. The District-wise list of uncovered villages is at Annexure. Mobile coverage in the uncovered villages in the country is being provided by the Government and the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in a phased manner. Under Left Wing Extremism affected areas Phase-II project, Government has approved installation of 125 mobile towers for providing/facilitating mobile connectivity in Maharashtra.