Chandigarh, November 1 - On the occasion of Haryana Day, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal equipped 288 chaupals of Karnal district with Wi-Fi under Bharat Net Project. While inaugurating the e-chaupal programme in Karnal, the Chief Minister directly interacted with the Sarpanches and VLEs of various villages which are beneficiaries of the Scheme.

He said that with the facility of Wi-Fi, people will now have access to more than 550 Government Schemes and services at a lesser price. Now, they will not have to visit the government offices time and again.

While speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister informed that out of 382 Gram Panchayats in Karnal, optical fibre cabling of 288 Panchayats has been completed, while internet and Wi-Fi facility is functioning smoothly in 225 Gram Panchayats. He congratulated the Panchayats of the district for it.

He said that this is the result of the hard work of Information Technology (IT), BharatNet and Common Service Centres and it is the need of the hour. He further added that mobiles and computers are used both in the villages or cities in fact even watches have been connected to the internet.

Elaborating on it further he said that the revolution in telecommunication has bridged the gap between people and now anyone can communicate while sitting at the ease of their home to any part of the country or world. He said that earlier people had to visit government offices for trivial work however, due to internet now people can do their work while sitting at home. The internet charges are also very nominal and a person can use the internet by spending only Rs. 10, which can be increased as per requirement.

The Chief Minister further informed that people can take advantage of 550 services and schemes whose forms are available online in Haryana. One such farmer-friendly government scheme is Meri Fasal, Mera Byora whose details have to be filled on the portal. Many farmers in Haryana have adopted this and faced no difficulty in selling crops in the mandis. While appealing through the Sarpanches of the Panchayats present in the programme the Chief Minister said that the people should take advantage of the decisions taken by the government.

The Chief Minister subsequently interacted with the Sarpanches and VLEs of various villages involved in the programme and asked them about employment and income received through the Common Service Centres. He asked the Sarpanch of Gadpur Khalsa regarding the number of Wi-Fi connections established in the village. On this, the Sarpanch told that the people of the village are being benefitted from this ambitious scheme of the government and so far 80 people have taken private connections. The Sarpanch expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister and told him that people in private job and students pursuing coaching classes have also taken advantage of this service.

The Chief Minister also interacted with Sarpanch, Mr. Sandeep Kalyan of Kutel, Manju Bala, VLE of Raison and VLE of Kachhwa about the Common Service Centre and its income.

District Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Nishant Kumar Yadav welcomed the Chief Minister at the programme. He informed that owing to the facility of Wi-FI Chaupal, at least 5 government locations in each Panchayat such as Gram Sachivalaya, Anganwadi and at places like PHC and CHC, Police Station and Government School, Wi-Fi is being provided free for one year. He informed that work is going on effectively to enable Wi-Fi services at all the Panchayats, in which BharatNet and CHCs have contributed significantly. The Deputy Commissioner said that the Internet service has proved to be helpful during the Corona period, giving VLE employment as well as ensuring online classes for students.

In the programme, National Head of Common Service Centre Provider Service, Mr. Manish Aggarwal said that out of total 6,188 Gram Panchayats in the country, 5,079 have become Wi-Fi enabled. Similarly, there are Wi-Fi hot spots in about 4,743 panchayats, fiber wiring has been done in 16,009 houses, while BSNL has been installed in 11,000 villages at the above mentioned government location. Moreover, BBNL Net service of BharatNet is providing free Wi-Fi facility for one year.

BJP district President, Mr. Yogendra Rana, former President, Mr. Jagmohan Anand, Mayor Ms. Renu Bala Gupta, Chief Minister's representative Mr. Sanjay Bathla, media spokesperson Mr. Shamsher Nain, besides Nodal and CEO of Wi-Fi Chaupal facility Mr. Gaurav Kumar, ADIO of NIC Mr. Parvendra Singh were also present at the programme.