The Telecom Secretary has stated that broadband connections through National Fibre Optic Network (NOFN) will be provided to 225,000 gram panchayats in the next three years as a part of ?Digital India? drive. Such a network will connect the gram panchayat with the respective block headquarter to provide a broadband speed of 100 mbps. Presently, 500 village blocks have an access to broadband services through optical fibre cable network.
For the implementation of the programme, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), RailTel and Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) are undertaking the survey work in 250,000 village blocks, of which 181,000 have already obtained a technical sanction.
In July 2014, the Ministry of Communications and IT had stated that the government would connect 50,000 gram pachayats by March 2015, 100,000 by March 2016, subsequently meeting the target by March 2017.
