Nearly half of gram panchayats now broadband-enabled, phase 2 in progress: Manoj Sinha

Nearly half of the total gram panchayats in the country are now broadband-enabled and phase 2 of the project is now in progress, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said at DoT’s seminar on Monday.

“We are also establishing WiFi hotspots at each gram panchayat to facilitate the utilisation of the infrastructure established by BharatNet,” said Sinha.

The government is targeting to link 2.5 lakh village panchayats with the broadband under the BharatNet project.

The broadband services are ready in over 1.16 lakh village panchayats out of the 1.21 lakh connected with optical fibre network, the government told recently.

National Digital Communications Policy 2018 will catalyse the achievement of Digital India dream by promoting robust, competitive and sustainable digital communications sector, the minister mentioned in his speech.

Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan also highlighted Indian Telegraph Right of Way rules 2016 as a tool to facilitate smooth execution of digital communication projects in the country.

“We will also take steps to promote healthy competition among states and union territories to further the cause of NDCP 2018,” she added.