The Chhattisgarh Government will soon distribute more than 55 lakh smart phones in two phases across the State under ‘Sanchar Kranti Yojana’, officials informed.
In the first phase between 2017-18 to 2018-19, the villages with more than 1,000 populations, all rural families will be distributed a smart phone.
In villages with below 1000 population where there is little or no mobile coverage and urban poor and college youths, a total of 50.8 lakh smart phones will be distributed.
In the second phase, the villages with less than 1000 population where mobile coverage in not available, 4.8 lakh famiies will be distributed smart phones. In case of a woman member being in the family, the phone will be given to the woman member only.
The mobile network providers will be encouraged to incease network coverage through their own internal accurals.
The persons who will be distributed smart phones, the mobile numbers will be given in advance which will be attached to their Aadhaar and bank account numbers.
The selection of beneficisries in the rural areas will be done by the State Panchayat and Rural Development Department.
In the urban areas, the selection of beneficiaries will be done by the Urban Administration Department and the selection of college students will be done by the Higher Education Department.
The State government will provide roofs of Government buildings to operators for setting up mobile towers.
Notably, a total of 1293 villages in Chhattisgarh also have the duct created for putting optical fibre cable as on July 16, 2017 under BharatNet project so far, the Central Government has informed.
Notably, the BharatNet project, which is one of the pillars of Digital India Programme, is planned to establish a network infrastructure by connecting all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 lakh) in the country through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) and by using an optimal mix of underground fibre, aerial fibre, radio and satellite media, for providing broadband connectivity by all categories of service providers on non-discriminatory basis.
The project is planned to be implemented in three phases. Under Phase I of the project, 1 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) are to be connected by laying underground OFC by November 2017 in the country. Under Phase II, connectivity will be provided to remaining 1.5 lakh GPs in the country using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre over power lines, radio and satellite media, by March, 2019.
Under Phase III, a state- of- the-art future-proof network, including fibre between districts and blocks, with 5G services and Internet of Things and with underground OFC in ring architecture, is planned to be completed by 2023.
Out of total 9,770 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Chhattisgarh, 4104 GPs have been taken up under BharatNet Phase-I for providing broadband connectivity, the Central Government has informed.
As on July 9, 2017, a total of 7,873 kms (3,159 GPs) Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid. A total of 1,289 GPs have been provided with broadband connectivity in Chhattisgarh so far.
The Union Ministry of Telecommunications has also approved a plan to connect village panchayats of Chhattisgarh with internet connectivity.
Incidentally, Chief Minister Raman Singh in April this year had called on Union Telecommunications Minister Manoj Sinha in the National Capital in which the approval was granted for the project.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh government has also already commenced work for laying a comprehensive OFC backbone link under ‘BastarNet Project’, officials informed.
The work comprises laying OFC in two ‘rings’-- the first being--Jagdalpur-Geedam-Kondagaon-Narayanpur-Bhanupratappur and Kanker.
The project would involve laying OFC in link 1 : Jagdalpur-Geedam - Approx. 71 Km, link 2 : Jagdalpur-Kondagaon - Approx. 74 Km, link 3 : Kondagaon-Narayanpur- Approx. 48 Km, link 4 : Narayanpur- Bhanupratapur - Approx. 76 Km, link 5 : Bhanupratapur- Kanker- Approx. 51 Km. link 6: Kanker- Kondagaon- Approx. 85 Km comprising a total of 405 Kms.
The work for underground OFC laying under Ring 2 would involve- Jagdalpur-Sukma-Dornapal-Konta-Dantewara-Geedam-Bijapur-Bhopalpattnam in which OFC would be laid in link 6: Jagdalpur-Sukma- Approx. 106 Km, link 7: Sukma-Dornapal- Approx. 36 Km, link 8: Dornapal- Konta- Approx. 44 Km, link 9: Sukma-Dantewara- Approx. 84 Km, link 10: Dantewara -Geedam- Approx. 18 Km, link 11: Geedam -Bijapur- Approx. 88 Km , link 12: Bijapur -Bhopalpattanam- Approx. 55 Km totalling 431 kms.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister Raman Singh in August last year had stated that Bastar will be included in Chhattisgarh Government’s ‘Digital Highway’ which will be a catalyst in bringing about a new revolution of development of a knowledge-based society, opportunity and economy.
It will also enhance the transparency, accuracy and accountability of government services, said while disclosing details on implementation of the ‘BastarNet’ project in his Independence Day speech delivered at the Police Parade ground here on August 15 last year.
He said that owing to its geographical conditions, it is necessary to ensure mobile and internet connectivity in Bastar.
Under this project, 832 kms long optical fibre cable will be laid at the cost of Rs 40 crore. This network will be built with ‘ring network’ so that it may provide uninterrupted mobile and internet connectivity through alternative routes, the Chief Minister said.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister Raman Singh in August last year had stated that Bastar will be included in Chhattisagrh Government’s ‘Digital Highway’ which will be a catalyst in bringing about a new revolution of development of a knowledge-based society, opportunity and economy. It will also enhance the transparency, accuracy and accountability of government services, said while disclosing details on implementation of the ‘BastarNet’ project in his Independence Day speech delivered at the Police Parade ground here on August 15.
He said that owing to its geographical conditions, it is necessary to ensure mobile and internet connectivity in Bastar.
Under this project, 832 kms long optical fibre cable will be laid at the cost of Rs 40 crore. This network will be built with ‘ring network’ so that it may provide uninterrupted mobile and internet connectivity through alternative routes, the Chief Minister said.
BSNl has also taken up work for laying optical fibre cable (OFC) in regions of extreme insurgency-infested Sukma district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh.