Chhattisgarh Youth and Poor Families to Receive Free Mobile Phones

Bangalore: Mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily lives now-a-days. In earlier days, it cost little higher that people only with good cash – reserve could afford it. But today, a mobile phone can start at a very cheaper rate starting from rupees 500. But, despite being so low on cost, some people can’t afford it even today.

To solve this problem, Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Raman Singh has recently announced that the government has planned to give free mobiles to over 55 lakh 60 thousand people within the next two and a half years in the state.

Under the highest priority scheme of the Chief Minister, which is called as Chhattisgarh Communication Revolution Scheme (SKY), Raman Singh has prepared a plan of around Rupees 230 crores to provide free mobile phones.

In an announcement, Chief Minister Raman Singh has stated, “The department has issued a notification for the Chhattisgarh Communication Revolution scheme from the ministry (Mahanadi Bhawan) here.”

The execution of the plan will be done through ‘chips’ of the state government’s electronics and information technology institute. The scheme covers around 5,10,00,000 students from technical and non-technical colleges. This includes 40 lakh 10 thousand rural beneficiaries and 5 lakh 60 thousand urban poor beneficiaries. In the first phase, it is estimated to cost Rs.1128 crore of distribution in the financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19.  The remaining 4 lakh 80 thousand families will be given mobile phones in the financial year 2019-20, which is estimated to be the cost of Rs.102 crore. Under this scheme, it is told that free phones will be provided to youths of every household from both rural and urban poor families and college youths.

If at all there is a woman in the household, the phone will be provided to the woman. The plan will have two phases of implementation.

 In the first phase, villages having population of more than one thousand and villages with population less than one thousand will be covered in the financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19. It is considered that the mobile phones coverage is available fully or partially in these areas. In these villages Smart phones will be provided to the rural families, urban poor families and college youth.

In the second phase, villages with less than one thousand population is covered where mobile phones coverage is not available. All the families will be provided with smart phones in these villages.The women head of each rural family and female head of every urban poor family and college youths will be included in the scheme.

It is also stated that the telecom service providers will expand the network at their own cost. The phone number of the beneficiaries who are given mobile phones will be allotted before and will be linked to the base and bank account in order to assure the beneficiary to keep their mobile phones intact with them. As per the Communication Revolution plan, the youths in the rural areas of Chhattisgarh will get jobs based on mobile phone repairs and maintenance.

The main motive of this scheme is to provide governmental services to the general public through the service centres. Apart from this, the services of government and private sectors should be easily availed by the citizen through the smartphones and their participation in governance is also the purpose of this scheme. (ANI)