Parliament Question: Advanced Digital Skilling in Coastal Karnataka

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2895 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 05.08.2026 ADVANCED DIGITAL SKILLING IN COASTAL KARNATAKA 2895. SHRI CAPTAIN BRIJESH CHOWTA: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has reviewed advanced digital skilling Common Service Centre (CSC) coverage and service reliability in coastal Karnataka and the programme coverage and participation from Karnataka including coastal Karnataka; (b) the details of applications, beneficiaries, institutions, funds, compute or platform use and outcomes thereof; (c) the details of access, language, infrastructure, interoperability, skill or grievance gaps; and (d) the expansion and implementation roadmap with measurable regional targets? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (d): As on 30.06.2026, a total of 5,16,787 CSCs are functional across the country, of which 4,07,122 CSCs are functional at the Gram Panchayat (GP) level. In Karnataka, 15,526 CSCs are functional, including 11,689 CSCs at the GP level. The CSC network extends across all districts of the State, including the coastal districts. The district-wise list of CSCs in the country including Karnataka, is at www.csc.gov.in. CSCs deliver a wide range of Government, financial, educational, healthcare and other citizen-centric e-services through the Digital Seva Portal (DSP) and other integrated platforms across the country, including Karnataka. CSCs also facilitate access to various education and skill development services in collaboration with Government agencies, educational institutions and other partner organizations. These services include employability enhancement, competitive examination support, higher education and other technology-enabled learning services. The Digital Seva Portal (DSP), Learning Management Systems (LMS) and other integrated platforms facilitate service registration, learning, assessment and certification, as applicable. Services are delivered through the Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) network under user-fee-based and partner-supported models, depending upon the nature of the programme. Under the IndiaAI Mission, the Government is facilitating free Artificial Intelligence (AI) training for around 5.6 lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) through the CSC network. In this regard, the "YUVA AI for All" programme is being implemented throughintegration of NASSCOM FutureSkills' Learning Management System (LMS) with the CSC Digital Seva Portal (DSP), enabling seamless access to AI learning content and monitoring of learner participation. The programme is being implemented across the CSC network, including the State of Karnataka. The district-wise number of transactions carried out through CSCs in Karnataka during FY 2025–26 is given below: District Name Transaction (IN LAKH) BAGALKOT 4.33 BALLARI 6.29 BELAGAVI 13.30 BENGALURU RURAL 1.72 BENGALURU URBAN 3.83 BIDAR 4.28 CHAMARAJANAGARA 2.16 CHIKKABALLAPURA 2.03 CHIKKAMAGALURU 2.89 CHITRADURGA 4.72 DAKSHINA KANNADA 4.59 DAVANGERE 5.23 DHARWAD 4.89 GADAG 5.22 HASSAN 3.51 HAVERI 6.09 KALABURAGI 6.86 KODAGU 0.69 KOLAR 2.03 KOPPAL 3.21 MANDYA 3.31 MYSURU 5.17 RAICHUR 3.86 RAMANAGARA 2.16 SHIVAMOGGA 4.94 TUMAKURU 4.19 UDUPI 2.33 UTTARA KANNADA 3.13 VIJAYAPURA 4.23 VIJAYNAGAR 0.23 YADGIR 3.47 Total 124.89Steps are continuously undertaken to strengthen service delivery through regular capacity building of VLEs, technology upgradation, monitoring mechanisms, grievance redressal systems and coordination with Central Ministries, State Governments. Efforts are also made to increase the no. of services on to DSP via integration of e-district services of the state governments. CSC services are offered in regional languages wherever feasible, and CSCs have the necessary digital infrastructure to facilitate digital services. Appropriate support and grievance redressal mechanisms are available for addressing service-related issues. Steps have also been taken to strengthen the CSC ecosystem through onboarding of new Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs), expansion of citizen-centric services and continuous technology enhancements, thereby strengthening the reach of services across the country including Karnataka. The Government has implemented Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) with the aim to provide digital literacy to 6 crore rural households (one person per household) nationwide including the State of Karnataka. The project had been implemented with CSCs network as a partner agency. A total of 6.39 crore individuals were trained across the country. In the State of Karnataka, a total number of 24+ lakh beneficiaries were trained under the Scheme. Total budget outlay of the scheme was Rs. 2351.38 crore for the implementation of the scheme across the country. The scheme was concluded on 31.03.2024. The Government has implemented a “Pilot Project: Implementation of Digital Village” through the network of CSC with the budget of Rs. 62.58 crore. One of the components of the project was ‘education services’ and ‘skill development’. The project has been implemented in 700 villages across the country including 30 villages in Karnataka. The project has been successfully closed w.e.f 31st March, 2024. The details of these 2 components (i.e. ‘education services’ and ‘skill development’) are: ● Education Services: Courses provided under this project- Basic Computer Course (BCC), Course on Computer Concept (CCC), Tally- Kaushal Praman Patra, Basic Course in Information Technology (BCIT). ● Skill development in (a) Automotive technician, (b) Handset repair, (c) Field technician – Home appliance, (d) Electrical technician. The details of the no. of beneficiaries/targets/achievements under the ‘education services’ and ‘skill development’ components, are as follows: S.No Deliverables No. of Beneficiaries 1 NIELIT - Basic Computer Course (BCC) 45,498 2 NIELIT - Course on Computer Concept (CCC) 10,178 3 Tally - Kaushal Praman Patra 14,000 4 Basic Course on Information Technology (BCIT) 40,600 Automotive Service Technician (Two-Wheeler) (2 5 per village) 1,400 6 Handset Repair Engineer (2 per village) 1,400 7 Field Technician – Home Appliances (2 per village) 1,4008 Electrical Technician (2 per village) 1,400 Further, National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), conducts education, skilling and digital competency programmes in the area of Information, Electronics and Communications Technology (IECT), including Degree/Diploma programmes, Skill-based Long-Term /Short-Term Courses. NIELIT also provides digital literacy courses such as Awareness in Computer Concept (ACC), Course on Computer Concepts (CCC) etc. through its wide network of 56 own Centres and 9,000+ partner institutions across the country, including one Centre at Chitradurga and approximately 76 Facilitation Centres in Karnataka, enabling the delivery of training programmes to rural and underserved areas. Through this network, NIELIT has trained over 31.92 lakh+ candidates under various programmes during the last three financial years. *******