'Ghar Tak Fibre' Scheme inaugurated by PM Modi: All you need to know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 'Ghar Tak Fibre' scheme in Bihar to connect all 45,945 villages of Bihar with high-speed optical fibre internet by March 31, 2021.

PM Shri @narendramodi launches 'Ghar Tak Fibre' Scheme and lays foundation stone for 9 highway projects in Bihar. #NayeBiharKaNirmaan https://t.co/tg7ayyrgqy

— BJP (@BJP4India) September 21, 2020

Key Highlights:

1- The scheme aims at connecting all 45,945 villages of Bihar with high-speed optical fibre internet by March 31, 2021.

2- The Government of Bihar will provide at least five FTTH connections and a Wi-Fi hotspot in every village. 

3- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will implement the scheme.

4- It will provide a boost to services such as e-Education, e-Agriculture, etc. for easy access by all state natives. 

5- The scheme will provide employment to the local workers. 

Is it practically possible?

It is practically impossible to connect all the villages of poll-bound Bihar by March 31. This is because digging of trenches, laying cables and providing connectivity will take time. As per the data so far, fibre has been laid only in 4,347 villages (at the rate of 181 villages per day). However, to meet the deadline, 257 villages must be covered daily. 

Not only this, a government official stated as quoted by the Indian Express, “Our present capacity is laying down between 80,000-100,000 km of optical fibre per year. To connect all the villages by March 31, 2021, we will need to lay down at least 200,000-225,000 km of optical fibre, which is a tough task.” 

Challenges Faced 

1- Under BharatNet, a village is considered lit up when it has an active internet connection and users have verified the same. Under phase I of this scheme, 5,889 out of 8,745 Gram Panchayats are connected with the main internet grid of the state while 2,856 Gram Panchayats were connected under phase II. However, around 60% of the villages connected under phase I were non-operational (as per data on October 15). 

2- As per the officials, lack of power and related equipment failure, equipment theft, and faulty or lossy leased fibre are major concern areas. 

3- Loose and old cables that were laid under phase I will have to be replaced. 

TRAI's report 

1- Only 30.35% of the population in Bihar has access to the internet (the country's population has 55% connectivity).

2- Only 22.61% of rural Bihar has an internet connection. If we compare this data with Kerala, the state has 98.10% connectivity in rural areas. 

3- Bihar has the lowest number of urban internet subscribers compared to other states. 

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