1.25 Lakh Gram Panchayats to Get High-Speed Broadband Services by March 2019 Under BharatNet

The Indian government is working hard on bringing high-speed broadband connectivity to gram panchayats across the country under the project BharatNet. Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha today reaffirmed that the final phase of the BharatNet project would be completed on schedule by March 2019. Under the final schedule, the government will be rolling out high-speed broadband services to 1.25 lakh gram panchayats located across the country. Nearly 50% of the work on the BharatNet project – that entails connectivity to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in all – has been completed, Sinha said, adding that the network will also be extended to police stations, high schools and other educational institutions, post offices, and primary health centre, with government funding.

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“The work has been completed in nearly 1.25 lakh gram panchayats. The project entails a total of 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, and the second phase will be completed on schedule by March 2019,” Sinha said while inaugurating the new corporate office of Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), which is implementing the ambitious project.

The project is aimed at facilitating the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking and other services to citizens across the country. “So far, BBNL was focusing on implementation, now it will also focus on aspects like maintenance and service delivery,” he said.

Sinha said that the states need to ensure that citizen-centric services – under BharatNet – reach the public in a transparent manner, leveraging the high-speed connectivity infrastructure. “Decision has also been taken to extend the connectivity to police stations, high schools and above education institutions, primary health centre, and post offices, on government expenditure,” the minister said.