Villagers use such centres to get a rail ticket or a printout and to avail of e-services such as accessing land records or other government documents online. The ministry of communications and IT is asking for about Rs 2,800 crore more to set up 1,50,000 additional CSCs, but advisor to the prime minister Sam Pitroda says the scheme is not viable.
"CSC scheme is a dead horse," said Pitroda, widely regarded as the father of Indian telecom revolution and advisor to PM on public information infrastructure. The project was launched five years ago with an outlay of Rs 5,740 crore.
But the project faces uncertainty as companies such as ICICI-backed 3i Infotech and Comat Technologies have pulled out. "Here you are creating infrastructure to deliver e-services which don't exist. Demand of some more funds has again emerged. I would raise my voice and block it. While I am around, it won't happen.
But taxpayers can't subsidise private companies for losses they make," Pitroda added. But telecom and IT secretary R Chandrashekhar, who was one of the key bureaucrats who drafted the nations Rs 23,000-crore e-governnance plan - which includes CSC - says he is fully behind the project.
"We are supporting the project. We have already launched about one lakh CSCs of the planned 250,000 centres. It's true that some companies have incurred losses and some centres have closed down. But it's a minor number. At the same time, there are companies which are making money from it," he said.
As on June 30, 95,710 CSCs have been rolled out in 32 states. The operations of 14,236 CSCs have stopped due to lossmaking companies pulling out. According to estimates, less than 50% of CSCs have managed to make profits. In Naxal affected and difficult areas, launch of 3,598 CSCs has been delayed. "To set up a typical CSC, about Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh is needed," said S Ramachandran, CFO of microfinance firm Basix. "In many parts of the country, there is no connectivity, thus CSCs set up with high cost, such as VSATs, will not be viable."
Basix operates about 5,000 CSCs across Orissa and Meghalaya. States grant a subsidy of Rs 2,000 per month per CSC. But many players bid so low to get an order that they are now unable to sustain operations. Abhishek Singh, director for e-governance in department of IT, said about Rs 2,800 crore more would be needed to set up the rest 150,000 centres.
"There are issues in viability of CSCs which will be sorted in the next phase. In business there are bound to be losses sometimes. In cities, one can access internet via phone or PC. But the villagers in far flung areas have no such access points apart from CSC."
There are about 22 CSC providers such as SREI, Basix, CMS Computers, Reliance Communications, among others. Some such as 3i Infotech have pulled out, while others such as Reliance Communications are behind schedule.
As per the ministry's estimates, connectivity has been provided to 69,574 CSCs. Thus almost 20,000 CSCs are still without broadband connectivity. Pitroda said the viable model is for government to take broadband to panchayats. "There is a proposal that panchayats should take over some of these CSCs. But why should the government take over old PCs and printers from loss-making companies in order to bail them out," he asked.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Harsimran Julka
Quelle/Source: The Times of India, 05.08.2011
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
