Karnataka announces free Wi-Fi for 2500 gram panchayats

BENGALURU: The Congress government in Karnataka has announced free Wi-Fi facility in 2,500 of the state's 6,019 gram panchayats that could dramatically take forward the digital and mobile-governance drive of the state.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has set aside Rs. 50 crore for the project through the viability gap funding method in his 2017-18 state budget presented on Wednesday.Karnataka will be among the first to take up a Wi-Fi project at the gram panchayat level.

ITBT minister Priyank Kharge told ET: "We have been testing WiFi at 11 gram panchayats in Mysuru, Gadag and Kalaburagi districts from November 2016. The response has been good and people are ready to accept it."

The project is being implemented by the state-run Keonics along with BSNL. "There is already a skeletal network due to the Bapuji Kendras and e-governance kiosks at the gram panchayats. We are enhancing that and will complete the broadband facility for the 2,500 gram panchayats by April-end," Kharge outlined. There are also plans to provide Wi-Fi in schools and colleges nearby and even homes, if people want it.

"I think it is just a question of time as routers and broadband is getting cheaper," Nasscom executive council member Ravi Gururaj told ET. "Last-mile connectivity is a worthy goal to deliver as you can cover a whole village without a wire. It is most cost-effective and worth an experiment. Execution will need to be done well, but it is one of the more empowering projects they could do for Digital Karnataka," he felt.

Farmer leader JC Byya Reddy, who was part of the committee set up by the state government for strengthening the panchayat raj system, said the Wi-Fi idea was very good.