One lakh Common Service Centres soon: Pilot

New Delhi: The government today said about 98,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) that provide e-governance services to the public have already been set up in the country and the target of one lakh centres will be met soon. “We will soon achieve the target of one lakh CSCs. Around 98,000 CSCs have been established as of now,” Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot told reporters in New Delhi.[caption id=“attachment_380919” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Union Minister Sachin Pilot. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] Part of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), CSCs aim to provide e-governance services, education and health services on a massive scale. 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. As per data available on the Department of IT website, as of 30 April 2012, a total of 88,995 CSCs are operational in 33 states and Union territories. The target to roll out one lakh CSCs was set for June 2011. However, the target has not been met as many of the CSCs have become non-operational due to termination of contracts, naxal activity and non-availability of connectivity, he said. Pilot also inaugurated the Centre for e-Governance (CEG) in New Delhi today. The Centre, which has been inaugurated after renovation, will be a platform for showcasing advancement in ICT domain especially in e-Governance, he said. In addition, it is meant to be a staging platform for emerging technology areas. Pilot said the CEG will be an effective platform for cross learning, sharing successes and failures in e-domain. He urged the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) to ensure that e-Governance does not remain a buzz word, but percolates down to the masses. The CEG will be like a Hall of Fame for various e-projects, Secretary (DeitY), J Satyanarayana said. The CEG will have 12 touch screen kiosks showcasing various projects like e-Mitra in Rajasthan, Akshaya in Kerala, Mee Seva in Andhra Pradesh and Passport Seva Project at Ministry of External Affairs. PTI