Government to provide optical fiber connection to 6.5 lakh villages
The government is working to provide optical fiber connection to 6.5 lakh villages, Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday. The country was kept going by the Information Technology mobile infrastructure during the lockdown. At Lok Sabha's Question Hour, Prasad said it is the commitment of the Prime Minister that the communication infrastructure of the country must improve.
Minister noted that work-from-home has become 'work-from-anywhere'
Prasad mentioned that this is the communication strategy of the Modi government to provide optical fiber connection to 6.5 lakh villages. The minister noted that the government liberalized work-from-home and today work-from-home has become "work-from-anywhere." "As far as school education is concerned, most of the school education went digital. Most of the schools continued because of digital education being encouraged," he said.
National Broadband Mission was launched to propel digital communications infrastructure
Prasad, however, admitted that there was scope for improvement. Replying to a question by BJP member Sanjay Jaiswal, Prasad said the National Broadband Mission (NBM) was launched on December 17, 2019, with a vision to enable fast track growth of digital communications infrastructure, bridge the digital divide for digital empowerment and inclusion, and provide affordable and universal access to broadband for all.
Mission envisages covering all districts/states of the country
It is envisaged that the expenditure of the government through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is likely to be Rs. 70,000 crore under NBM. The mission envisages covering all districts/states of the country including all districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, he added.
