IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for setting up of 100,000 rural Common Services Centers (CSC) across the country at a total cost of Rs. 5742 crore. Of this, the Government of India’s outlay would be Rs. 856 crore, and the State Governments’ share Rs 793 crore. The balance amount of Rs 4093 crore is expected to come from the private sector. The project is proposed to be implemented by the Department of Information Technology through a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

The one lakh CSCs, are expected to give a boost to development by helping to bridge the digital divide. The project is expected to substantially extend the reach of digital services and economic opportunities into the rural and remote areas of the country. The CSCs are proposed to be rolled out in 18 months i.e. by March 2008.

The CSC is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), approved by the Government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale. The Scheme is aimed at making all government services accessible to the common man in his locality. CSC is one of the three infrastructure pillars of e-governance which the government is committed to building, to ensure “anytime anywhere” web enabled delivery of government services. The other two pillars are the State Wide Area Network Connectivity (SWAN), which has already been approved by the Government at a total cost of Rs. 3,334 cores, and State Data Centres. The CSC will be the front-end for delivering a range of government services, including those enabled through the 27 Mission-Mode Projects (MMPs) under the NeGP.

Under the project, the CSCs in one-lakh villages will be broadband Internet enabled and would offer a basket of Government-to-Citizen (G2C) and Business-to-Customer (B2C) services. The Government is putting in place necessary arrangements to provide reliable broadband connectivity (256 Kbps) up to the CSC level. The one lakh CSCs will cater to six lakh villages in the country i.e. at least one CSC in a cluster of six villages.

The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as well as other private services. A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills . Other significant public and private services that can be accessed through these centers would be remote consulting for healthcare, e-enabled vocational training, market and supply chain linkages, rural BPO, agricultural price and weather information etc. The CSCs are thus envisaged to act as change agents in accelerating integration of the rural masses into the economic mainstream of the country .

While the project is a Central Scheme aimed at covering the whole nation, its implementation is decentralized enabling entrepreneurship to flourish locally. The Scheme creates a conducive environment for the private sector and NGOs to play an active role in implementation of the CSC Scheme, thereby becoming a partner of the government in the development of rural India. The PPP model of the CSC scheme envisages a 3-tier structure consisting of the CSC operator (called Village Level Entrepreneur or VLE); the Service Centre Agency (SCA), that will be responsible for a block of 200-500 CSCs; and a State Designated Agency (SDA) identified by the State Government responsible for managing the implementation over the entire State.

The CSCs are expected to create one lakh direct jobs and 2-3 lakh additional indirect jobs. The scheme, when fully operational, will help people enjoy higher disposable income achieved by reducing time and costs in obtaining the government and private services, and through enhanced employment opportunities available digitally.

Quelle/Source: Press Information Bureau, 21.09.2006