(a) the details of measures taken by the Government to achieve the goals of good governance;
(b) whether the Government proposes to launch new IT products and technologies to strengthen the existing ones;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) the time by which all the villages are likely to be connected by mobile services and broad band services to achieve the goal of Digital and transparent Government; and
(e) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a): Government of India is implementing the “Digital India” programme with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy. Under the Digital India programme, Government has proposed to implement e-Kranti which envisages provisioning of various e-Governance services in the country. The focus of the e- Kranti programme is to transform the e-Governance services by expanding the portfolio of Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) in e-Governance under various Government Departments, undertaking Government Process Reengineering (GPR), work flow automation, introducing latest technologies such as Cloud and mobile platform and focus on integration of services.
Government has also launched “Good Governance and Best Practices” scheme which aims to promote/replicate the best practices of e-Governance and successful eGov applications. The ministries/departments are being encouraged to come up with new applications in uncovered domains under this scheme. The states/UTs have been requested to formulate suitable project proposals for development of new applications and replication of successful e-Governance applications in various domains. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) provides technical and financial assistance for this initiative.
(b): Yes, Sir.
(c): The Government has undertaken several initiatives to introduce new IT products and technologies and to strengthen existing ones in its various e-Governance projects wherever applicable. In order to utilize and harness the benefits of Cloud Computing, DeitY has initiated Meghraj- GI Cloud project which focuses on accelerating delivery of e-services to the citizens of the country while optimizing ICT spending of the Government. The project will ensure optimum utilization of the infrastructure and speed up the development and deployment of e-Gov applications. National Cloud under MeghRaj is operational since 4th Feb 2014 and 147 Departments are using the services of MeghRaj.
An eGov AppStore under MeghRaj is already operational (https://apps.nic.in). eGov AppStore is a central application repository which will host both cloud and non-cloud enabled applications.
The latest technologies like IPv6, MPLS, IP sec for security and also 4G and LTE compliant are proposed to be considered for implementation where upgradation of the present State Wide Area Network (SWAN) project is undertaken in various States/UTs.
DeitY has launched a massive countrywide initiative on mobile governance, called “Mobile Seva”, to provide government services to the people through mobile phones and tablets. Mobile Seva has been developed by DeitY as the core infrastructure for enabling the availability of public services through mobile devices. As a part of this initiative, the Framework for Mobile Governance was notified in February 2012. As on date, 1687 Central and State Govt. Departments are using Mobile Seva for providing SMS-based services and over 339 crore SMS notifications have been sent to citizens for various mobile based services. As on date, 406 public services have been made available to the citizens through this platform. A Mobile Applications Store (m-Appstore) has also been launched in Jan 2012 by DeitY as part of Mobile Seva. The Mobile Governance Portal and the m-Appstore can be accessed at http://mgov.gov. in/. The m-Appstore currently hosts 458 live mobile applications. The live applications can be downloaded and installed free of cost on a mobile phone by any person.
(d) and (e): The Government of India is implementing following projects to connect all the villages by mobile services and broad band services to achieve the goal of Digital and transparent Government:
(i) National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN): Government is implementing National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project to provide broadband connectivity through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) to all the Gram Panchayats in the country (approximately 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats) at an estimated cost of Rs. 20,100 Crore by bridging the connectivity gap between Gram Panchayats and Blocks. Under this project, at least 100 Mbps (megabits per second) bandwidth would be made available at each Gram Panchayat (GP) to be used by all the service providers on non-discriminatory basis. Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL), a Central Public Sector Undertaking Unit (CPSU) has been created to execute the project. Work is being implemented by BBNL through 3 CPSUs viz. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Railtel and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL).
The scheme to connect all the Gram Panchayats with respective blocks through OFC is envisaged to be completed in a phased manner by December 2016.
(ii) Mobile services in uncovered villages: A scheme to extend financial support from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for provisioning of mobile communication services in inhabited uncovered villages of the country not having mobile coverage is under consideration. It is estimated that there are about 55,669 villages in the country that do not have mobile coverage. Mobile coverage to balance uncovered villages is proposed to be provided in a phased manner over five years. State-wise list of uncovered villages is at Annexure.
Providing mobile coverage to the uncovered villages in the North Eastern Region (NER) has been taken up initially as part of Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for NER.
Mobile coverage to balance uncovered villages is to be provided in a phased manner over five years with coverage in Hilly States & Western Border States being taken up in the first phase.