(a) the status of utilization of the capabilities of the educational Satellite (EduSat)
launched in September 2004;
(b) whether Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has spent a crores of rupees
in this country, particularly in Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh, in reaching the services of EduSat;
and
(c) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI M.A.A. FATMI)
(a) As per the information furnished by IGNOU the Edusat was launched on September 20,
2004. Joint Committee of Senior Officials of ISRO, user agencies and others were set up.
Three meetings with State Education authorities have been held. Purpose of the meetings was
to acquaint various stakeholders about capabilities of ISRO for development of systems for
creating National and State level networks supported by Edusat. The matter was also
discussed in the meeting of Chief Ministers and State Ministers of Education of the North
East Region. Status of Edusat supported network is available in the Annexure.
(b) & (c) The Rajiv Gandhi Elementary Education Project launched in November, 2005 on a
pilot basis, covered four districts, one each in UP, Bihar, MP and Chhattisgarh and 950
Primary Schools in these districts are being equipped with Satellite interactive terminals.
The entire cost of hardware amounting to about Rs. 11.00 crores is being met by ISRO. The
Ministry has sanctioned a grant of Rs. 83 lakhs under SSA initiative for establishing studio
generating content and meeting other contingencies. IGNOU has spent Rs. 8,84,592/- as its
contribution.
Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred question No. 4902 for
reply on 23.5.2006 asked by Shri Bhupendrasinh Solanki, MP
Status of Edusat supported network
A. National network
IGNOU - 133 terminals NCERT - 79 terminals UGC - 54 terminals AICTE - 97 terminals DST - 18 terminals
B. State network
Kerala - 57 terminals Rajasthan - 83 terminals Uttaranchal - 1 terminal Haryana - 82 terminals Punjab - 1 terminal Tamil Nadu - 2 terminals Gujarat - 511 terminals Nagaland - 1 terminal Tripura - 1 terminal Jammu & Kashmir - 1 terminal Jharkahand - 3 terminals Karnataka - 886 terminals