Panchayats to soon get WiFi connectivity: I&B Minister

Disclosing this here on 29 December, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari said this was a countrywide programme in which over 2 lakh gram panchayats would be provided WiFi connectivity and Ludhiana had also been included in the first phase of the project.

The minister, who is a local MP, expressed his gratitude to the government of India for granting his request to include Ludhiana district in the first phase. He said the project would provide immediate and fast Internet connectivity to the people living in villages.

He pointed out that since the private operators were not prepared to provide the Internet services in villages as it did not generate them much revenue, the government of India stepped in to provide this facility to the people there.

Tewari said it was one of his priorities to ensure that the gram panchayats were connected through the Internet with the rest of the world. Besides, he added, it would be beneficial for the people whose relatives live abroad.

He said that while all the villages had telephone connectivity as the tele-density in the district was among the highest in the country, people had been seeking Internet connectivity as well which they would be getting very soon.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/broadband-and-iptv-news/item/3909-panchayats-to-soon-get-wifi-connectivity-i-b-minister.html