Parliament Question: PMGDISHA and CSC Initiatives in Uttar Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5310 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 25.03.2026 PMGDISHA AND CSC INITIATIVES IN UTTAR PRADESH 5310. SHRI RAJEEV RAI: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) the number of Common Service Centres (CSCs) operational in Mau district including Ghosi constituency during 2024-26 along with the range of services provided; (b) the number of beneficiaries trained under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) in the district during the said period; (c) the funds released under PMGDISHA and CSC-related initiatives in Uttar Pradesh and the expenditure incurred in Mau district; (d) whether any review or evaluation has identified digital access gaps or connectivity challenges in rural areas of the district and if so, the details thereof; and (e) the steps taken by the Government to strengthen digital access and digital literacy in Ghosi? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (e): The number of functional CSCs in Mau district during financial years 2024-26 are as follows: District Name 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Mau including Ghosi constituency 1,240 1,260 1,256 Services delivered: More than 800 services are being delivered to the citizens through these CSCs, including Government-to-Citizen (G2C), Business-to-Citizen (B2C), financial services, insurance services etc. Details of the services provided by CSCs can be seen at https://csc.gov.in/. Common Services Centre project is implemented PAN India. These CSCs are established on a self- sustainable and entrepreneurship model, which are run by Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). The Project CSC has been implemented under Central Sector Scheme of Government as a PAN India Project. The project has been successfully completed w.e.f. 31.03.2024. Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA):Government started PMGDISHA to provide digital literacy to 6 crore rural households (one person per household) nationwide. A total number of 6.39 crore individuals were trained across the country. In Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, a total number of 1,65,906 candidates were trained under the Scheme. The Scheme has been concluded on 31.03.2024. Impact assessment study for PMGDISHA scheme and CSC has been conducted which concludes: ● Training provided under PMGDISHA had a significant impact on the adoption of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and other forms of digital media. It benefited the participants by enabling their access to a wide range of information and services for various purposes, helping to reduce the overall digital divide in the country ● Significant positive impact on the social status of the VLEs as well as ease of service delivery to citizens. VLEs as not just entrepreneurs but as influential figures contributing to the social fabric and development of the communities and the country as a whole. CSCs helped citizens to access a wide range of services in assisted mode through CSCs Various steps have been taken to strengthen digital access and digital literacy, as follows: ● Providing digital literacy courses through National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT), an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) ● Currently, NIELIT has 56 centres and a nationwide network of over 700 Accredited Training Partners, as well as more than 8,500 facilitation Centres for conducting skill development and capacity building activities in Information, Education, Communication and Technology (IECT) areas ● In the State of Uttar Pradesh, NIELIT has 4 Centres located at Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Pilibhit and Noida. In addition, NIELIT has 4,000+ Facilitation Centres spread across the state for conducting Digital Literacy Courses of various levels ● In Mau district, NIELIT has 75+ Digital Literacy Facilitation Centres, including 12 centres located in Ghosi. In the last 5 years, 21 Lakh+ candidates have been skilled by NIELIT in digital literacy courses across the state CSC e-Governance Services India Limited continuously undertakes various initiative to strengthen service delivery and digital access, as follows: • Capacity building and training programmes for VLEs to improve service quality and operational efficiency. • Developed a centralized grievance redressal mechanism to address issues raised by Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) and citizens. • Regular field visits and monitoring at the grassroots level to ensure operational effectiveness of CSCs. • Performance monitoring through centralized dashboards to track transactions and service delivery at each CSC. • Developed a dashboard for VLE performance/ranking to promote competitiveness and better service delivery.******