Bihar's rural areas are going through a digital revolution, thanks to the 'Ghar Tak Fibre scheme' of the Central Government which is connecting villageswith high-speed optical fibre Internet.
Since the scheme was initiated in October last year, in Bihar optical fibre has been laid in 25,866 villages and 8,745 gram panchayats, whereas Fibre to Home (FTTH) connections have been given in 14,741 villages and 10,482 gram panchayats.
Around 22,229 connections have been given to government establishments like schools, colleges, Anganwadis, ration shops, post offices, health centres, agriculture offices, gram panchayat and block offices, Jeevika office, electricity department etc, while 2993 connections are to private subscribers.
The scheme, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2020, seeks to connect all 45,945 villages of Bihar through the optical fiber Internet, enabling fast Internet connectivity that will enable citizens to access a range of services and opportunities.
According to Dr Dinesh Tyagi, Managing Director, CSC SPV: “With the spread of broadband connectivity in villages of Bihar, online service delivery and various other schemes and initiatives by the government can be availed by citizens with just a click. It is not just the students of the village, the Anganwadi workers, ration dealers and Jeevika workers are also taking advantage of the scheme as their work has become online and their data is readily available at the click of a mouse. “
As per TRAI report of June 2020, there are only 29.83 rural Internet subscribers per 100 population in the country.
Bihar at 21.69 is one of the states having the least number of Internet subscribers per 100 persons.
“With Ghar Tak Fibre, children and youth are getting better access to education, villagers are getting affordable healthcare, while farmers are having access to information on agri technology, seeds and weather, all real time at their doorsteps” said Dr Tyagi.
“Digital infrastructure is the backbone of digital first world that we live in today. With the Coronavirus pandemic disrupting peoples' lives, communities and economies, fast and reliable internet has become an essential tool for activities like education, health, business, and trade,” Tyagi added
“Reliability and speed of data exchange is essential for internet-based devices and services to fulfil the growing need of different stakeholders from households to vendors, and service providers, with this scheme the village has it, says Kumar. Employment opportunities will open up for the youth in villages and help them become independent and support their families. Further, new avenues of extra income such as rural BPO, e-Commerce, e-Education, Tele-Medicine, online banking, shall be created by the availability of internet in villages,” Dr Tyagi mentioned.
