CSCs, till now were being utilised for booking railway tickets, providing Aadhaar numbers and passport applications. The government is proposing to provide LED kits to CSC entrepreneurs, so that they can become part of ‘Make in India’ programme as well.
Uttar Pradesh being the largest State it is easier to start such CSCs to train lakhs of people, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Information Technology and Law, said here at an event.
“Uttar Pradesh is still behind from others (States) in terms of CSC roll outs. In our effort to reach out to rural and remote areas for ‘Digital India’ programme and giving information technology services to those who still cannot, the State can play an important role,” he said.
More Centres on the anvil
He said the number of CSCs will reach the 2.50 lakh target in the next six months, from 2.29 lakh now. Prasad expected them to generate employment for youth and women in rural areas.
“If we think of at least 10 employees in each CSC, that would mean 25 lakh jobs and that is ‘minimum’,” Prasad told reporters here on the sidelines of ‘CSC — Creating a new wave in Rural Entrepreneurship’.
The Minister also launched first Wi-Fi village in UP at Banaras, Jan Aushadhi Centre, E-Legal service, Super 30 online curriculum for IIT preparation, Animal healthcare (telemedicine/ tele consultation) services (Veterinary), Telemedicine — diagnostic for Malaria and courses for skill development — all through the CSCs.
Companies such as Apollo Healthcare (for Telemedicine) and Tata Consultancy Services (for skill development) have participated in the programmes.
Commenting on launch of these various programmes, Dinesh K Tyagi, Chief Executive Officer, CSC e-Governance Services India, said that CSCs can become one of the largest framework for rural India in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
“CSC has already made six villages in Andhra Pradesh e-literate and many such villages can be made in the future. Through the e-Commerce services, many CSCs can also become Flipkarts and Snapdeals in future,” he said.
LED manufacturing
Talking about LED manufacturing, Tyagi said many youths are interested in assembling of such products (LED bulbs). In some places such trainings are already happening with the investment of around ₹1.50 lakh on the kits.
And, if many such youths come up to manufacture LED bulbs and training others, the investment can come down to ₹1 lakh only because of the bulk.
Such mechanisms can also make CSCs generate much better revenues, Tyagi said adding that if each CSC can generate at least ₹1 lakh per month, it could become a big source of income for such village level entrepreneurs (VLEs).
LEDs made by these CSCs can also be procured by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) and ultimately Government selling them to citizens on a subsidised rates, Tyagi added.
Source: Business Line
Image Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line