3,195 panchayats to get Net connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu, November 11

Set to roll out e-governance at the grass-roots level in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration will provide Internet connectivity to 3,195 additional gram panchayats under the Bharat Broadband Scheme.

Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta on Thursday held a meeting to review the implementation of the Bharat net scheme in J&K, a release said. While reviewing the implementation of the scheme in rural areas, the Chief Secretary was informed that 408 gram panchayats and 14 block headquarters had been provided with Internet connection through optical fibre cable, while 658 had been VSAT-enabled for Internet connectivity, officials said.

As many as 3,195 additional gram panchayats will be provided with Internet connectivity in phase-II of the project, they said. Mehta impressed upon the Rural Development Department to ensure that Net-enabled gram panchayats functioned properly, so that they could be used as hubs to connect youth clubs and anganwadi centres. Mehta directed the planning development and monitoring department to verify the functionality and efficiency of the internet facilities already established in 1081 gram panchayats by holding interactions with the officers either through video conferences or google meet. — PTI

‘Must function properly’

Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta said Internet-enabled gram panchayats must function properly, so that they could be used as a hub to connect youth clubs, anganwadi centres and other important public sector installations and promote government schemes and programmes.