PM Narendra Modi launches optical fibre project in Bihar, to provide high-speed internet in rural India
Under this project, about six lakh villages would be provided internet services through optical fibre cable in 1,000 days. This includes all 45,945 villages in Bihar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the ‘Har Gaon Mein Optical Fibre’ project via video-conferencing while inaugurating a slew of infrastructure projects in Bihar.
The project, which will be implemented in 180 days, will be completed by March 31, 2021, at an approximate cost of Rs 1,000 crore. It will be executed jointly by the Department of Telecom, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Common Service Centres (CSCs).
Under this project, about six lakh villages would be provided internet services through optical fibre cable in 1,000 days. This includes all 45,945 villages in 8,386 gram panchayats in Bihar, which will receive the service by March 2021.
In his address, the PM said that the journey of making villages Aatmanirbhar is starting from Bihar today, adding that the government aims to provide urban facilities to rural areas in the country.
The CSC will provide one Wi-Fi and five fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections for one year, free of cost to identified government institutions, primary schools, Anganwadi centres, ASHA workers, and Jeevika Didi, etc., and one Wi-Fi at a public place in every village of Bihar.
This, he believes, will enable a “digital revolution” to reach the state’s remotest corner, and that digital services like online education, e-agriculture, telemedicine, tele-law, and other social security schemes will be easily available to all citizens of Bihar at the click of the button.
“Farmers to get real-time information on farming-related technology, and the connectivity to every village is the aim with which the country is moving forward; children and youth will also be able to access world books and technology easily at one click,” said PM Narendra Modi.
Source: DD News
He added, India is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of digital transactions, and in August 2020, the country did transactions of over Rs 3 lakh crore through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Thanking the PM, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, said, "It is a matter of great pride for me, as Bihar will be the first state in India to connect all villages by optical fibre network internet."
The PM said that it is important that to have good quality and high-speed internet in the rural areas, adding that about 1.5 lakh village panchayats and over three lakh common service centres already have internet connectivity through optic fibre.
Addressing via video-conference, PM Modi also laid down the foundation for nine national highway projects worth Rs 14,000 crore in Bihar. These projects include the construction of three large bridges, upgrading of highways into four lanes and six lanes, and comes ahead of the state's assembly polls due in October-November.
Edited by Suman Singh
