Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • PM Modi in Manipur
  • Charlie Kirk killer
  • Sushila Karki
  • IND vs PAK
  • India-US ties
  • New human organ
  • Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Movie Review
fp-logo
Government wants to provide free Internet-enabled phones to 25 million rural houses
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Tech
  • News & Analysis
  • Government wants to provide free Internet-enabled phones to 25 million rural houses

Government wants to provide free Internet-enabled phones to 25 million rural houses

Nishtha Kanal • October 21, 2013, 09:27:13 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

The government has grand plans to ensure connectivity in India. According to a news report by The Hindu Business Line, the Government

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Government wants to provide free Internet-enabled phones to 25 million rural houses

The government has grand plans to ensure connectivity in India. According to a news report by The Hindu Business Line, the Government of India has unveiled its ambitious plan of linking 25 million rural households in the country with free Internet-enabled mobile connectivity.

With a one-time fee of Rs 300, the government will provide a phone and a connection by BSNL to those who sign up for the scheme. “Villagers will be given a smartphone. A free recharge of Rs 30 (Re 1 a day) will be provided by the service provider (BSNL) on the first day of every month for two years,” a senior government official has been quoted as saying.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Of course, it would be silly to expect huge amounts of usage facility with a scheme like this. Those who sign up for this scheme will be given 30 minutes of talktime, 30 SMSes and 30MB of data usage a month in addition to information broadcast about agriculture, healthcare, financial services, education and more.

More from News & Analysis
What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Here’s another catch for this scheme. The mobile phone will be provided to a woman within a household. Essentially this means, if there’s no woman in the household, it does not get a phone under this scheme. It seems to be a smart move on the government’s part to club connectivity with women’s rights in rural India.

Airtel and Vodafone users in Punjab will face outage

Women to benefit from this scheme

Other rules of the scheme include the fact that the beneficiaries need to be enrolled in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. A beneficiary who has availed herself of the scheme for a minimum of 25 days a year or is not below the State’s average will be eligible to receive a handset. The government, of course, will call the shots over who is selected under the scheme.

Only households with no phone connections otherwise will be selected for the scheme. “During MGNREGA enrolment, it is recorded whether the beneficiary has any phone connection or not. In this way, the scheme will increase tele-density,” the official said.

Besides spreading connectivity in rural parts of the country, this scheme is all set to benefit state service provider BSNL too. The company is said to be reeling under losses and will be able to take good advantage of the scheme. BSNL will receive Rs 5,000 crore over a period of three years for this programme. The report, however, will not require any additional budgetary allocation since the government will be cashing in funds for the same from the Universal Service Obligation fund that is a pool of cess levied of telecom companies to provide rural connectivity.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Tags
BSNL Mobile phone Government of India MGNREGA Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Mobile Connectivity
End of Article
Written by Nishtha Kanal
Email

Intrigued by all things social, Nishtha will invariably tweet about you. When not tweeting or writing about the next viral video, you will hear her proclaiming her love to Metallica, James Hetfield, Opeth, Akerfeldt and all bands that go 'growl'. She also obsesses about ACP Pradyuman and South Park and you will always find her moving around with a book. Her focus is on all the happening stuff in the tech domain, and she won't hesitate to take a shot at some of the oddball devices that make their way to our labs. see more

Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV