(a) whether Government has provided Internet facility in the panchayats to extend the benefits of communication and information technology to the people living in rural areas of the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of funds released and utilised in this respect during each of the last three years, State/UT-wise; and
(d) the total number of people who were benefited through the facility during the said period, State/UT-wise?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS,
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)
(a) & (b) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country. As part of BharatNet project, the Last Mile Connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband access technology is to be provided in all the Gram Panchayats.
In the 1.23 lakh GPs (approx.) of BharatNet Phase-I, the provisioning of Wi-Fi Services has been assigned to Government of Rajasthan, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited (a Special Purpose Vehicle under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology), etc. In the 1407 GPs of BharatNet Phase-II, the provisioning of connectivity over satellite media, along with Wi-Fi services, has been assigned to BSNL.
As on 24.02.2020, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in 45,769 Gram Panchayats (GPs) and out of them, services are being provided in 18,683 GPs.
(c) Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has disbursed Rs 5600 Crore, Rs. 6000 Crore, and Rs. 4145.54 Crore to Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) during 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 respectively, and the details of the State/UT-wise funds released /utilised by BBNL in this respect during each of the last three years, are given in Annex-I. Further, the details of the State/UT-wise funds, directly released by USOF, are given in Annex-II
(d) The details of the State/UT-wise active subscribers of Wi-Fi services under BharatNet project are given in Annex-III.