Rs 451 cr for telephony in 66,822 villages

The ministry of communications and Information technology will provide Rs 451 crore from the universal service obligation fund to set up public telephones in 66,822 villages under the Bharat Nirman programme.

At present, these villages do not have telephone connectivity. "In step with the Bharat Nirman programme, it will be ensured that 66,822 villages get telephone connections by November 2007," said a department of telecommunications (DoT) note.

"It is estimated that Rs 451 crore will be required and the service obligation fund will be used to meet the cost of setting up the public telephones. No separate allocation from the government is required," the note added.

Connectivity in 14,183 remote and far-flung villages from the 66,822 will be provided through digital satellite phone terminals. While not specifying the amount involved, the department also said it would use the fund to assist private service providers to reach out to rural areas for maintenance of existing public telephones, replacement of those installed with the MARR technology and installation of telephone lines in households in specified rural areas.

Under the Bharat Nirman scheme, the government also plans to support private operators for the provision of additional rural community phones in villages that are without PCOs, and have a population of more than 2,000.

According to DoT the 66,822 villages are spread over 13 of the 24 telecom circles in the country "" Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, the Northeast, Orissa, Uttaranchal and Rajasthan.