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Sinha inaugurates �satellite-based panchayat�

By Staff Correspondent

SHILLONG, Jan 17 - Union Minister of State for Communication Manoj Sinha inaugurated the �satellite-based gram panchayat� at Mawniandlah village under Mylliem Block in East Khasi Hills district through video conferencing.

The Minister inaugurated the gram panchayat or Durbar as it is called in Meghalaya under the Centre�s BharatNet Phase II project. Launched in 2012, BharatNet envisages connection of Gram Panchayats to the block levels with Internet connectivity to facilitate e-governance, e-health and other digital benefits.

Meghalaya, which falls under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, practices a different form of village panchayat called Durbars headed by traditional heads. These Durbars have extensive powers and functions over the natural resources found in the State unlike other village Panchayats in the country.

Sinha said that the idea of BharatNet is to connect people digitally, touch their lives, educate, create jobs, inform, create awareness, nurture bonds and bridge digital divide.

The Minister informed that under the BharatNet project there are 2.5 lakh gram panchayats that would be linked with the blocks with broadband optical fibre with 1 GBPS speed.

So far, Sinha said, under phase I and phase II of the project, broadband optical fibre has been laid in over one lakh gram panchayats in the country.

�Services have been opened in 48,000 gram panchayats in the country so far under the project. The Government aims to connect all gram panchayats by March 2019,� Sinha said recently.

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