|
Bengal villages get connected, with a little help from an NGO
An ambitious pilot project to introduce rural mobile services has lived up to its hyped-up Christmas launch three years ago, thanks to help from unexpected quarters.
The Grameen Sanchar Sewak (GSS) scheme, kickstarted by BSNL and the Department of Posts in 2002, is ready to be regularised and go national, after a resounding triumph in West Bengal. The catalyst: Grameen Sanchar Society (Grasso), a non-governmental organisation.
Ninety per cent of the GSS scheme is in West Bengal, and 90 per cent of that is being run by Grasso, said Rajya Sabha MP and CPI-M leader Nilotpal Basu who runs the NGO.
The GSS scheme, which began with the idea of employing rural postmen to carry mobile phones from door-to-door in 12,001 villages, eventually became a logistical nightmare in billing and collection for BSNL. So, it tapped into the 7,000-strong network of self-employed people that Grasso uses to carry phones to far-flung locations.
The results have been spectacular. Grasso subsidized by BSNL for the GSS scheme has provided mobile reach to 93 per cent of West Bengals 34 Blocks, 46 per cent of its Gram Panchayats and 14 per cent of its villages. The only limitation is that BSNLs network does not work in certain shadow areas, which has stopped Block coverage from being 100 per cent, says Basu.
The Grasso success story has become a role model for BSNL to regularise its GSS pilot scheme and take it countrywide. It has already roped in NGOs in Orissa, though none has reached West Bengals scale. West Bengal has been the most successful state for GSS. We are ready to regularise the scheme as soon as possible, says AN Rai, DDG (Rural Networks), BSNL.
More...
|
|
|
|
|
