UGC to get Rs.6.18 crore to provide Wi-Fi in varsities

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has been sanctioned Rs.6.18 crore for providing Wi-Fi facility in universities, parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said that so far, 85,335 government and government-aided, secondary and higher secondary schools have been approved for coverage.

"The wi-fi facility would help students have access to educational content available on the web and download the same for learning and enhancing their knowledge base," she said.

Irani said the government proposes to provide wi-fi facility in universities through a programme 'Campus Connect'.

"As regards schools, there is a component under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan (RMSA) for providing financial assistance to the states/UTs for internet connectivity to government-aided secondary and higher secondary schools among other ICT related interventions," she said.