(a) whether the Government has any proposal for setting up of Rural Information Technology Network in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether any problem has cropped in the first phase of the new projects; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY(DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) and (b): No. Sir. However, the Government has recently
approved a Scheme for providing support for establishing 100,000
broadband, Internet enabled, Common Service Centres (CSCs) in
rural areas of the country. These Centres would be opened in the
ratio of 1 CSC for every 6 Census villages in a State. These
Centres would provide a mix of Government and private Services in
rural areas. While the State Government would decide the exact
nature of Government services to be provided, the nature of
private services to be provided would be determined by the entity
selected for establishing the CSCs. It is expected that non
government services like computer education, agriculture
consulting, insurance, edutainment etc. would be delivered through
these centres. The Scheme is to be implemented in a public
private partnership. The full details of the Scheme are available
in the CSC guidelines which are accessible at www.mit.gov.in . The
total outlay of the Scheme is Rs 5742 crores , including the
cost of establishment of the CSCs and their operation for four
years thereafter. The Government support in the form of viability
gap funding is estimated to be Rs 1649 crores, with the balance
coming from private sector investments. These centres would thus
be available for a variety of uses in rural areas including
computer education, raising awareness about IT in rural areas etc.
The Scheme is currently under implementation.
(c) and (d): No significant problems have cropped up in the
implementation of the Scheme. However it may be mentioned that
since the implementation of the CSC Scheme is being carried out by
the State Governments, the speed of implementation of the Scheme
is dependent on the initiative and interest shown by the States in
implementing the Scheme.