PIB – 14 September 2021

BHARATNET PROJECT

Focus: GS III- Indian Economy

Why in News?

Government plans to complete the BharatNet project by August 2023

• More than 1.5 lakh Gram Panchayats connected through broadband service with BharatNet Project

About the BharatNet project

• BharatNet is a flagship mission implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. (BBNL) – BharatNet Project is basically the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) that was launched in 2011 and got renamed as BharatNet project in 2015.
• The project is being executed by BSNL, RailTel, and Power Grid and is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and has subsumed all the ongoing and proposed broadband network projects.
• The BharatNet Project aims to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to rural India.
• It aims to connect all of India’s households, specifically rural households through demand, affordable high-speed internet connectivity to fulfill the objectives of the Digital India programme in partnership with the states and the private sector.
• The Bharat Net project proposes broadband connectivity to households under village Panchayats and even to government institutions at the district level.
• It intends to cover all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats for the provision of E-governance, E-healthcare, E-Commerce, E-Education, and Public Interest Access services.
• The deadline for completion of the BharatNet Project had been extended till June 2021 from December 2020, and a notice had been issued to Tata Projects Ltd for failing to meet projected milestones.
• The three-phase implementation of the BharatNet project is as follows
  1. The first phase envisages providing one lakh gram panchayats with broadband connectivity by laying underground optic fibre cable (OFC) lines by December 2017.
  2. The second phase will provide connectivity to all 2,50,500 gram panchayats in the country using an optimal mix of underground fiber, fiber over power lines, radio and satellite media. This is a new element of the BharatNet strategy as the mode of connectivity by aerial OFC has several advantages, including lower cost, speedier implementation, easy maintenance and utilization of existing power line infrastructure. The last mile connectivity to citizens was proposed to be provided creating Wi-Fi hotspots in gram panchayats
  3. In the third phase from 2019 to 2023, state-of-the-art, future-proof network, including fiber between districts and blocks, with ring topology to provide redundancy would be created.

What is the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)?

• The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was established with the primary objective of providing access to ‘Basic’ telecom services to people in the remote and rural areas at reasonable and affordable prices.
• Universal Service stands for universal, interdependent and intercommunicating, affording the opportunity for any subscriber to any exchange to communicate with any other subscriber of any other exchange.
• The USOF proposes to meet its social, economic, political and constitutional objectives which are as follows:
  • To extend the telecommunication network.
  • To stimulate the uptake of Internet and Communication Technologies (ICT) services.
  • To bring the underserved and unserved areas of the country into the telecom spectrum and narrow down the access gap.
  • To use the pooled USO levy for an equitable distribution through target subsidies.
• Subsequently, the scope was widened to provide subsidy support for enabling access to all types of telegraph services including mobile services, broadband connectivity, and creation of infrastructure like Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) in rural and remote areas.
• With access to affordable telecom services in remote and rural areas, the USOF is the right step towards stemming urban migration. This would ensure to generate employment opportunities in the rural areas which would help generate more income.

Who are the partners of USOF?

As per the Department of Telecommunications, there are 24 partners of USOF. It includes:

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
• Tata Tele Services Limited
• Reliance Communications Limited
• Vodafone
• Bharti Airtel Limited, etc.

SVAMITVA

Focus: Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj  inaugurated the National Meet on SVAMITVA Scheme: A Stepping-Stone Towards Upliftment of Rural Economy

About SVAMITVA

• SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme is a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Revenue Departments and Survey of India.
• Aim: To provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India.
• It is a scheme for mapping the land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS).
• The mapping will be done across the country in a phase-wise manner over a period of four years – from 2020 to 2024.

Benefits:

• The scheme will help in streamlining planning and revenue collection in rural areas and ensuring clarity on property rights.
• The scheme will enable creation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs), using the maps created under this programme.
• The Gram Panchayats are constitutionally mandated for preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) for economic development and social justice.
• The GPDP is based on a participatory process in convergence with schemes of all related Central Ministries/Line Departments related to 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
• Present Coverage Area: The program is currently being implemented in six states – Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

CLIMATE ACTION AND FINANCE MOBILIZATION DIALOGUE (CAFMD)

Focus: GS II- International relations

Why in News?

India and the United States of America (USA) launched the “Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD)”.

About Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue :

• The CAFMD is one of the two tracks of the India-U.S. Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership launched at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April 2021, by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and US President Mr. Joseph Biden.
• The dialogue was formally launched by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Shri Bhupender Yadav and Mr. John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC), at an event held in New Delhi.
• The dialogue will not only strengthen India-US bilateral cooperation on climate and environment but will also help to demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities.
• The launch was preceded by a bilateral meet where both sides discussed at length a wide range of climate issues relating to COP26, Climate Ambition, Climate Finance, Global Climate Initiatives including International Solar Alliance (ISA), Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C).