Question : Benefits of Telecom Towers

(a) whether opportunities for social activities, e-governance, employment etc. with digital services are increasing in villages and its surrounding areas where telecom towers have been installed and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the total increasing number of telecommunication towers installed in the rural areas of the country, State/UTwise including Rajasthan and the number of towers to be installed in rural areas, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether the Government is considering to install towers in the tribal area of Pindwada in Rajasthan and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the number of villages in the country including Rajasthan where joint service centers are proposed to be opened, State-wise in collaboration with rural entrepreneurs?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS,
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)


(a) to (c) Yes. Opportunities for social activities, e-governance, employment etc. with digital services are increasing in villages and its surrounding areas where telecom towers have been installed. The list of total number of towers in the country including Rajasthan is at Annexure-I. Currently, Government does not have any plan to install towers in the tribal area of Pindwada in Rajasthan.

(d) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is implementing “CSC 2.0: A Way Forward Project” under Digital India Pillar- 3 (Public Internet Access Programme) to set-up at least one self-sustainable Common Services Centre (CSC) in each Gram Panchayat. As on 31st December, 2019, the overall number of functional CSCs (including urban & rural) are 3,65,361 out of which 2,70,132 CSCs are functional at Gram Panchayat Level, including Rajasthan. A list of state-wise numbers is placed as Annexure-II.