(a) whether a number of villages in Gujarat are still without telephones till date;
(b) if so, the number of such villages district-wise;
(c) whether the Union Government have chalked out any plans to cover all the villages in the State with Public Telephones; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHOK PRADHAN)
(a)&(b) Yes Sir, 92 villages in the State are remaining to be covered with Village Public Telephones.
(c) Yes , Sir.
(d) BSNL has already completed its share of planned VPT`s. Out of its share of 4206 Village Public Telephone (VPT`s), 4114 Village Public Telephone (VPTs) have already been provided by M/s Reliance Infocom. Remaining 92 villages will be covered using Universal Service Obligation (USO) funds during 2004-2005.