UPA plans to digitise rural India

Third year into its second term, the Congress-led UPA seems to have already set its eyes on the next general elections. And the ruling alliance is starting its groundwork, with a popular scheme for rural areas.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal on Friday announced a scheme is to provide broadband connectivity to panchayati raj institutions, which will cost Rs20,000 crore in the initial phase. The scheme will be completed by 2014, he said.

This will mean gram sabhas at the village level will be connected with the rest of the governmental system, opening up new avenues for delivery of services to the people, including e-governance, e-education and e-medicine.

It is clear that the UPA wants to go to elections with the achievement of a substantial, popular scheme in its pocket.
The scheme will be implemented through creation of a national optical fibre network (NOFN). The Rs20,000 crore funding will be drawn from the universal service obligation fund (USOF). Sibal said a matching investment is likely to come from the private sector.

The recommendation has been made by the Telecom Commission and the proposal is to be sent to the cabinet for approval.

The implementation of the ambitious scheme will be overseen by a high level commitee headed jointly by Sam Pitroda, the architect of India’s initial telecom revolution and Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unqiue Identity Development Authority of India.

With this scheme, people in rural areas will have access to the world wide web —and they will not only have the benefits of e-governance but can also connect with the rest of the world. This will also stimulate business of computer makers and Internet service providers. A huge rural market will emerge and that should stimulate computers’ hardware and software sectors.

After the initial phase in the 1980s, the second major telecom revolution was in the penetration of mobile telephony in the vast rural sector. The proposed broadband connection will fully integrate the villages of India with the networked India of cities and towns.