Background of the Scheme
Kickstarted by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar, the Ghar Tak Fibre scheme is an optical fibre internet service. This scheme and the services assured will be executed with the combined efforts of both the Central government as well as the Common Service Centre. Targeted to be executed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme will be connecting 45,945 villages in the state, making Bihar a digital face of the nation.
Introduction of the Scheme
Commencing on March 31, 2021, the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme is pre-prepared to provide broadband services in all the remote and rural areas of the state. Launched by the Central government in September 2021, the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme is a well-structured yojana focusing on connecting all the villages of Bihar to the state.
Introduced in Bihar, the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme is a purposive yojana launched to connect all the rural areas and urban areas of Bihar to the state.
The Objective of the Yojana
Not only does this yojana aim at connecting 45,945 villages to the state, but it also intends to:-
- Make India a digital face for the backward and rural population of our country.
- Initiating this scheme will grant the underprivileged people the chance to taste surfing the government schemes, yojanas, and all other related information online.
- All the targeted villages in Bihar will be connected with a high-speed optical fibre internet service.
Highlights of Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme
Let us now go through the highlights of the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme:-
- The intention behind introducing and providing broadband services in the rural areas of Bihar is to facilitate the people living in reduced circumstances.
- Addressing necessities like- browsing banking and financial services, -ticketing services, e-governance services, online shopping, educational and healthcare services, mobile/DTH recharge, etc.
- Launched recently in Bihar, the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme will be working to outreach all the phases to make them avail of the FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) Broadband Service.
- Providing high internet services to the backward areas of the state will also contribute to develop and increase the employment rate. The scheme will offer job opportunities in various sectors like- Online -Banking, Rural BPO, e-Education, Tele-Medicine, etc.
- With high-speed internet service, 45,945 villages will be connected digitally.
Rate of Internet Penetration in Bihar
- As per the information based on the reports of TRAI, out of India’s 55% of the population using the internet service, only a population of 30.35% has access to internet connectivity in Bihar.
- In comparison to the rural internet connectivity in Kerala (98.10%), only 22.61% of the population has access to broadband service and internet connection.
The Target of this Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme
The Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme has been formulated with the motive of targeting the following:-
- The scheme aims to target the lowest urban internet subscriber rate of Bihar (73.26%).
- The scheme is targeted to stimulate and boost the employment rate in the rural sectors and remote areas of Bihar.
Key Features of the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme
Following are the key features of the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme:-
- Formerly known as the Bharat Net scheme (2014), the yojana managed to cover over 1.5 lakh village panchayats.
- The scheme revolves around providing optical fibre enabled internet connections in the remote areas of the state.
- In the initial front, the scheme managed to connect 8,745-gram panchayat (GP) in Bihar.
- After the launch of the Bhart Net scheme, the yojana was again launched in the following year (2015).
Vision of the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme
The vision of this scheme focuses on providing high internet connectivity service to the people of rural areas of Bihar in the following ways:-
- To connect all the remote areas by March 31, 2021.
- Connecting 45,945 villages.
- The scheme has been structured and prepared by keeping in mind the timeline of all the required work.
- Based on the latest data generated for this scheme, the fibre has been laid in 4,347 villages.
- The deadline to achieve the target is based on covering 257 villages on a daily basis.
- At present, the working capacity for achieving the set target is laying down between (80,000-100,000 km) of optical fibre.
Challenges Faced and Strategy to Overcome Them
Mentioned below are the challenges faced under BharatNet yojana:-
- Under the BharatNet scheme, a village is only considered digitalized, when it has an active broadband connection.
- This active internet connection is required to be verified by its existing users.
This scheme has been segregated into two phases:-
Phase I and Phase II
- Under the first phase of this scheme, 5,889 out of 8,745 Gram Panchayats are connected with the main source of the internet service.
- Whereas, the remaining 2,856 Gram Panchayats are connected under the second phase.
- But, nearly 60% of the villages that are connected under the first phase are yet non-operational.
Other challenges faced under this scheme are:-
- Equipment theft
- Lack/ Loss of power supply
- Faulty leased fibre
- Equipment failure
- Old and loose cables that have been laid under the first phase need to be changed and replaced with new fibres.
About BharatNet
In the year 2011, a scheme with the name National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)[1] was launched. But, in the later run, it was renamed as BharatNet project in 2015. In the existing situation, the status of 3,591-gram panchayats which fall under phase-I of the scheme is non-operational. However, the status of the remaining 200 is debatable.
Strategy to Achieve Success
Given below points is the layout of the strategy used by the government and other officials to make the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme successful:-
A target of connecting 1 lakh villages in 1, 0000 days through optical fibre has been set.
Under this scheme, implementation of 1 Wi-Fi and 5 free of cost connections would be granted to the following government institutions:-
- Aasha Workers
- Primary Schools
- Anganwadi Centres
- Jeevika Didi
Benefits of the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme
Listed below are the benefits offered under the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme:-
This scheme will help all the people living in the rural and remote areas of Bihar in the following ways:-
- In making the undeveloped and rural villages of Bihar digitalized
- Making the lives of people easy by granting them access to internet service.
- By creating and developing digitization in sectors like- e-Agriculture, Tele-law, e-Education, etc.
The farmers would also be benefited as they would be able to:-
- Browse information regarding the irrigation process, soil fertility, seeds, new ideas of farming, etc.
- Access to the internet service will give the farmers a digital platform to sell their crops.
- This broadband service scheme is an advanced way to enable a digital revolution in the state.
Additional Information
Understanding FTTH
- FTTH (fibre-to-the-home), also known as fibre to the premises (FTTP) is referred to the use and installation of optical fibre. This optical fibre is used directly from a central point and is connected to the buildings of- industries, residential areas, organizations, etc.
- As per the data of the Project Management Office, the Common Service Centres (CSC) has 34,821 centers in Bihar. In addition to this, these centers will be used as a workforce to execute this scheme and ensure the complete success of the broadband services for all the natives of each village of Bihar.
Role of Aatmnirbhar Sena
An independent unit of progressive people, Aatmnirbhar Sena, is an organization that works for the evolution and growth of the less-privileged people. Intending to propagate the schemes of the government, we work tirelessly. Our only motive is to build the voice of the nation strong and self-reliant. Aatmnirbhar Sena always participates in assisting the government by volunteering to create awareness of the schemes launched for the benefit of the economically vulnerable section of the society.
Synopsis
Launched by the central government, the Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme is a thoughtful initiative taken for the development of the backward and rural areas of Bihar. It is a scheme under which broadband services will be provided to remote villages of the state. The idea is to connect the villages with the state to achieve digitalization. The scheme will be jointly implemented by the Central Government, Department of Telecom (DoT), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, and Common Service Centres (CSC). Implementation of this scheme will create employment opportunities in rural areas.
