Government of India has approved the Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) on 04.08.2023 for upgradation of all Gram Panchayats (GPs) in ring topology. Out of 2,65,014 GPs planned throughout the country, 2,14,912 GPs had been connected under BharatNet Phase-I and Phase-II and as of June 2026, 13,494 GPs have been upgraded under ABP for providing high speed internet services.

The Government supports 4G coverage in villages uncovered by Telecom Service Providers. As of June 2026, 24,784 towers have been made on air covering 35,022 villages/locations across the country, including remote and border villages.

The Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) Scheme was launched by the Digital Bharat Nidhi (erstwhile Universal Service Obligation Fund - USOF) under the Ministry of Communications on 1st October, 2022. The Scheme provides funding support for research and development (R&D) in communication technologies and promotes collaboration among academia, start-ups, research institutions and industry to strengthen the telecom ecosystem in the country. As on date, start-ups are associated as collaborators with academia in 26 TTDF-supported projects related to 6G technologies amounting to Rs.57 crores.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has developed Sanchar Saathi, a citizen centric initiative, with the objective to prevent misuse of telecommunications resources in digital frauds. It is available as web portal (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in) and mobile App. Key features of Sanchar Saathi, inter-alia, includes facilitating citizens to report suspected fraud communications, to know mobile connections in their name & report connections which are not required or not taken by them, to report lost/ stolen mobile handsets, to check genuineness of mobile handset.

Department of Posts (DoP) has undertaken various initiatives for modernization of Post Offices across the country. All Post Offices in the Region have been brought on Advanced Postal Technology (APT) platform, rolled out under Information Technology (IT) 2.0 Project, for end-to-end computerization and network connectivity. Core Banking Solution (CBS) has been implemented in all post offices to provide anywhere banking services to customers. Digital services such as Net Banking, Automated teller machine (ATM), India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), e-Money Orders, Track & Trace, mobile-based services, etc. have been introduced across all post offices. Parcel and logistics services have also been strengthened to support e-commerce activities.

This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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NJ/AR

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