Parliament Question: Providing High Speed Internet Connectivity in Government Schools in Rural Areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5965 ANSWERED ON 30/03/2026 Providing High Speed Internet Connectivity in Government Schools in Rural Areas 5965. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has taken steps to ensure adequate access to high-speed internet connectivity in Government schools located in rural and remote areas across the States; (b) if so, the details of such initiatives undertaken by the Central Government to provide high speed internet connectivity in rural areas; (c) whether the Government has formulated any guidelines or set standards for the establishment of smart classrooms, digital boards and ICT-enabled learning infrastructure in rural Government schools; (d) if so, the details of the number of schools where such smart infrastructure has been implemented as on date along with the funds allocated and utilized under these programmes during the last three years, State/UT-wise; and (e) the details of the computer-to-students ratio in Government schools in the country, State/UT- wise, particularly in Saran district of Bihar? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (e): Education is part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution and most of the Government schools are under the administration of the State Government and its bodies. The Government of India, in the Budget 2025, has announced provision of broadband connectivity to all Government Secondary schools in rural areas, under the ‘BharatNet’ project to enhance digital infrastructure in remote areas. To provide FTTH internet connections to Government schools having computing devices, DoSEL has advised all States/UTs including rural areas to enter into MoUs/Agreements with BSNL. The Ministry of Education implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha to enhance digital learning in Government schools across the country, including rural areas of Bihar. The initiatives aim to enhance the quality of education by integrating technology into teaching and learning processes. Under the initiatives, funds are provided for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms according to the requirements of the State submitted in the Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B). The non- recurring/recurring grant under ‘ICT and Digital Initiatives’ is available to the States and UTs for following two options: • Option I: Under this option schools which have not availed the ICT facility earlier can either opt for ICT or smart classrooms as per their requirement and need. In case of more than 700 enrolments, an additional ICT lab can also be considered. • Option II: Under this option, schools which have already availed the ICT facility earlier can avail smart classrooms/tablets as per the norms of the scheme.ICT Lab: A non-recurring grant of up to Rs. 6.40 lakh per school and recurring grant of upto Rs. 2.40 lakh per school per annum for a period of 5 years. From 2023-24, the scheme also offers step- wise funding based on school enrolment. (Strength <100: Rs. 2.5 Lakhs, Strength between 100 – 250: Rs. 4.5 Lakhs, Strength between 250 – 700: Rs.6.4 Lakhs) Smart Classrooms: The non-recurring grant for Smart Classrooms (2 smart classrooms per school) is of Rs. 2.40 lakh and the recurring grant is Rs. 38,000/- per school per annum (including E Content and Digital Resources, Charges for Electricity). The State/UT wise details of ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms approved and functional in the last three years (i.e. from 2022-23 to 2024-25) are at Annexure-I. The State/UT wise details of funds allocated and utilised in the last three years (i.e. from 2022-23 to 2024-25) for ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms are at Annexure-II. As per UDISE + 2024-25 Report, 64.7% schools have computer facilities and 63.5% schools have access to internet. The computer-to-student ratio in Government schools varies across districts depending on infrastructure availability. . ****Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5965 RAISED BY SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY, HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 REGARDING “PROVIDING HIGH SPEED INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN RURAL AREAS”. The State/UT wise details of ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms approved and functional in the last three years (i.e. from 2022-23 to 2024-25) ICT Labs/ Smart Classrooms State/UT 2024-25 2023-24 2022-23 Approval Functional Approval Functional Approval Functional A&N Islands 3 3 6 6 8 8 Andhra Pradesh 1221 14 3552 3552 1145 1144 Arunachal Pradesh 126 100 216 0 146 134 Assam 980 152 1701 1 885 885 Bihar 1254 0 1981 0 126 126 Chandigarh 33 1 2 2 95 95 Chhattisgarh 6018 0 871 871 0 0 DND - DNH 49 0 42 24 78 77 Delhi 249 0 90 0 52 52 Goa 0 0 3 0 0 0 Gujarat 556 693 926 448 0 0 Haryana 283 20 679 310 455 342 Himachal Pradesh 17 17 12 0 898 616 J&K 2301 0 544 0 1037 1036 Jharkhand 623 8 1789 1516 625 606 Karnataka 549 0 100 0 1768 437 Kerala 24 0 115 1 257 257 Ladakh 83 58 66 66 24 23 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0 0 Madhya Pradesh 4605 228 4336 3350 658 658 Maharashtra 373 0 518 309 2405 2233 Manipur 78 0 109 109 174 173 Meghalaya 58 46 29 29 42 42 Mizoram 322 0 217 217 90 90 Nagaland 85 0 13 13 47 47 Odisha 776 0 0 0 2119 2119 Puducherry 0 0 0 0 45 45 Punjab 143 0 1019 0 1223 664 Rajasthan 1428 0 4357 5 820 811 Sikkim 37 27 3 0 32 32 Tamil Nadu 7362 0 3536 3536 2211 2211 Telangana 1067 607 1337 697 94 93 Tripura 138 108 147 147 857 857 Uttar Pradesh 6943 12 7898 22 18733 18444 Uttarakhand 39 0 78 0 195 102 West Bengal 662 0 63 0 0 0 Total 38485 2094 36355 15231 37344 34459 Source: PRABANDHANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5965 RAISED BY SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY, HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 REGARDING “PROVIDING HIGH SPEED INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN RURAL AREAS”. The State/UT-wise details of funds allocated and utilized for ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms from 2022-23 to 2024-25** (Rs. in Lakh) 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 States/UTs Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Allocated Utilized* Allocated Utilized* Allocated Utilized* A&N Islands 51.2 21.3 17 488.3 7.5 6.6 Andhra Pradesh 5588 5250.2 9744.8 30030.3 4633.4 33.6 Arunachal Pradesh 378 608 595.9 0.0 317.7 242.7 Assam 4704 12648.5 4082.4 12193.5 2344.3 441.6 Bihar 302.4 10533.1 4754.4 25404.7 3364.3 0.0 Chandigarh 134.4 98.9 6.9 103.6 207.2 2.3 Chhattisgarh 0 4062.7 2125.6 1161.1 17408.9 0.0 DND - DNH 310.4 262.4 109.1 390.9 168.8 0.0 Delhi 152.8 448 1350 0.0 0.0 0.0 Goa 0.0 0.0 13.4 6.6 0.0 0.0 Gujarat 0.0 3535.2 2646.4 7955.1 2754.8 2512.9 Haryana 1544 2086 1815.6 4951.9 704.4 104.8 Himachal Pradesh 3283.2 3753 28.8 3753 24.3 24.3 J&K 3300.8 0.0 1330.7 0.0 5573.9 0.0 Jharkhand 3516 2451.1 7623 4992.7 2143.3 399.6 Karnataka 4243.2 6878 735 0.0 2291 14.6 Kerala 616.8 336 276 0.0 58.5 0 Ladakh 112 89.2 163 0.0 190.1 139.4 Lakshadweep 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Madhya Pradesh 1579.2 412.8 12697.5 2385.9 13073.8 1027.9 Maharashtra 5772 1097.7 2632.8 9061.4 1603.3 0.0 Manipur 553.6 213.6 266.8 1252.7 199.4 0.0 Meghalaya 212.8 0.0 102.4 535.3 166.7 86.4 Mizoram 464 0.0 566.5 588 803.5 796.1 Nagaland 112.8 461.3 31.2 860.3 179.8 0.0 Odisha 5085.6 4068.5 0.0 0.0 1489.2 595.2 Puducherry 108 292.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Punjab 5261.2 0.0 3367.7 5444.3 766.2 0.0 Rajasthan 3616 3693.8 12228.8 319.4 4931.1 0.0 Sikkim 76.8 57.6 7.5 223.7 151.6 64.8 Tamil Nadu 14150.4 24223.2 10114.6 0.0 21701.1 0.0 Telangana 601.6 12815.7 3944.2 0.0 3640.6 2588.6 Tripura 3232.8 1752.2 440.5 3517 404.7 319.6 Uttar Pradesh 46115.2 35335.5 24826.4 0.0 20827 13974.5 Uttarakhand 468 0.0 234 0.0 127.2 0.0 West Bengal 0.0 0.0 755.2 0.0 1632.8 0.0 Total 115647.2 137486.34 109634.1 115619.74 113890.4 23375.5 Source: PRABANDH * It includes State share and the unspent balance of previous years