The government plans to set the ball rolling for setting up 100,000 digital villages as early as next month. A proposal for Rs 15,000 crore has been prepared by CSC eGovernance Services India Ltd, which will be the nodal point for digital villages project.

The main objective of digital villages (Digi Gaons) is to transform rural villages of India into smart villages through use of ICT applications, besides promotion of a self-sustainable service model for people residing in these areas. Also, a digital village will offer a one-stop service solution for rural people, through Common Service Centers (CSCs) run a by a village level entrepreneur, for services such as tele-education, telemedicine, financial services, internet connectivity and other G2C/B2C services which are easily accessible online at an affordable price. And not to mention, it will reduce the digital divide and enable rural citizens to avail all services as available to urban people.

According to the detailed project report prepared by CSC eGovernance, the whole project will involve over 10 central ministries to make a digital village successful and connect it with the rest of India. Ministries of communications, electronics and IT, Jal Shakti, agriculture, health and others will be an important part of this project.

Once the proposal is approved by Ministry of Electronics and IT, it will send for Cabinet for final approval, a senior ministry official said.

Digital villages will have CSCs acting as additional service points for participating ministries and departments. This is part of government's biggest project Digital India, under which CSCs been have set up as a strategic cornerstone across India.

A digital village will also mean the creation of employment opportunities for rural people by promoting the IT/ITeS industry, a senior government official said.

As a proof of concept model, the Digital Village project has been implemented in villages in six villages where the area is connected through WiFi, entrepreneurship opportunities by setting up cottage industries for manufacturing candle incense sticks or sanitary napkins. Besides, 700 villages have been converted into digital ones to showcase the offerings, according to the DPR.

Conceptually, a digital village means it will have a digital banker, a digital doctor and a digital teacher with internet WiFi access point. The internet connection will be provided through BharatNet, the government's programme to connect rural hinterland. Apart from this, small units for LED assembly, manufacturing of sanitary pads and photography lab will be set up, which will generate employment as well. A village-level entrepreneur (VLE) operates and manages the CSC unit and is paid based on a transaction model. VLE needs to invest in setting up the infrastructure.

Out of 3.8 lakh CSCs operating across the country, about 2.4 lakh are in the rural areas. Digi Gaon was formulated to improve health and education services in rural areas, provision of community access to IT-enabled resource centre, Wifi and LED street lighting at a commonplace in the village to create a conducive environment for digital literacy, financial inclusion and digital access to knowledge and services.

CSCs, an important part of government's Digital India initiative, function as a single access point for delivery of services electronically, including passport enrolment, Aadhaar. They also enable people to access government services online such as train tickets, birth certificates, online submission of various forms and bills.

WHAT IS A DIGITAL VILLAGE?