New Delhi, March 27 As many as 2.18 lakh gram panchayats out of the total 2.68 lakh in the country have been made service-ready for providing high-speed internet services under the BharatNet project, according to information tabled in Parliament.
Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, SP Singh Baghel, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that the BharatNet project is being implemented by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in a phased manner to provide broadband services to all gram panchayats in the country.
The minister informed the Upper House that all states are striving to implement the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) based on the resources available to them.
However, due to varying levels of preparedness among Panchayats nationwide, the progress of implementation differs across states.
Furthermore, according to DoT, the BharatNet project is scheduled for completion by March 2027.
The minister said the infrastructure created under BharatNet can be utilised to provide broadband services such as Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections, leased lines, dark fibre and backhaul to mobile towers.
He said the Union Cabinet approved the Amended BharatNet Program under the "design, built, operate and maintain" model to upgrade the existing network of BharatNet Phase-I and Phase-II, create a network in around 42,000 gram panchayats that are not yet service-ready and for operation and maintenance for 10 years.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been given the target of providing 1.5 crore FTTH connections to households in the next five years.
He also informed the Upper House that under the Digital India Programme, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing the e-Panchayat MMP across all states and Union Territories (UTs) of the country. This initiative aims to revamp the functioning of Panchayats, making them more transparent, accountable, and effective.
As part of this initiative, the Ministry has launched eGramSwaraj, an online planning and accounting application designed to simplify Panchayat activities such as planning, accounting, and budgeting.
The Ministry has also integrated eGramSwaraj with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for Gram Panchayats to make real time payments to vendors/service providers. Panchayats use the eGramSwaraj portal to prepare and upload their Annual Panchayat Development Plans, he added.
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