1 lakh gram panchayats given broadband facility

Under the Bharat Net Project, over 1 lakh gram Panchayats have been given broadband facility. And the Centre aims to cover remaining 1.5 lakh gram panchayats by end of year, 2018.

Under phase one, total 1,01,370 gram panchayats were given broadband facility by Dec 28, 2017 while the second phase has already has been initiated to cover remaining eight states. The government expect it to complete by December 2018, Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said.

Original timeline for completion of the second phase, was March 2019. But the NDA government wanted the early completion of the second phase so that it can ensure success of Digital India programme.

Total 2.5 lakh Optical Fibre Network (OFN) are laid so far and in second phase over 3. 5 lakh OFN has to be laid.

The Minister also said financial incentives and disincentives should be built into clauses for the second phase of the project to reward players for on time delivery. The Department of Telecom will take a call on how to incentivize BharatNet stakeholders for their performance.

Though this programme was started by UPA government in October 2011, it got delayed due to various problems. Till May 31, 2014, broadband connectivity was provided only 59 gram Panchayats. After the NDA came to power, the government resolved all the problems and expedited it, said the Minister.