Question : Communication Services in Tribal Areas

(a) whether all the villages in the country including tribal areas of various States have been linked with the telecommunication facilities, particularly mobile telephone facilities and if so, the details of the number of such villages and tribal areas thereof, State/UT-wise;

(b) the target fixed and achieved by the Government and action plan, if any, for extension of the telecommunication services across all the villages during each of the last three years, State/UT-wise;

(c) the status of India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) and the benefits provided/likely to be provided by the setting up of this bank; and

(d) the details of the branches opened by IPPB in the country so far, State/UT-wise and the time by which its branches are likely to be set up in all the States of the country?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS
(SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) As per data provided by Telecom Service Providers(TSPs) and field units of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), 96% inhabited villages in the country have telecom connectivity, as against 80% inhabited villages in 93 districts with more than 50% tribal population. The State/UT-wise details are attached as Annexure-I.

(b) Government of India is implementing various schemes under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to enhance telecom connectivity in the rural and predominately tribal areas of the country including North Eastern Region (NER) and areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), Border areas, Aspirational Districts and Islands. Further, remaining villages of the country including tribal areas are covered by Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in a phased manner. The State/UT-wise details of telecommunication connectivity by Government is attached as Annexure-II.


(c) India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India. IPPB did a nationwide launch on 01-Sep-2018 with 650 branches/controlling offices, almost one in each district in the country. IPPB has enabled 1.36 lakh Post Offices to provide Banking services and has equipped nearly 1.86 lakh Postmen and Grameen Dak Sevaks with a smartphone and biometric device to provide Doorstep Banking Services including Paperless Account Opening, Cash Deposit/Withdrawal, AePS, Domestic Money Transfer (DMT), Government to Citizen (G2C) Payments, Bill Payments Services, Digital Life Certificate (DLC), Doorstep services for Mobile Number update for Aadhaar in association with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Life Insurance & General Insurance services.
(d) India Post Payments Bank has set up 650 branches/controlling offices, almost one in each district in the country details of which is placed at Annexure-III.