Communication Minister Manoj Sinha today said, in the first phase of Bharat Net, one lakh Gram Panchayats have been linked with high-speed broadband. Addressing a function in New Delhi, he said, the first phase was over last month and in the second phase, 1.5 lakh Gram Panchayats will be connected with the broadband services by March 2019. He said, the scheme will make a significant improvement in the lives of rural people. Mr Sinha said, the project will generate massive employment opportunities both direct and indirect in the country in days to come. <br/><br/>Mr Sinha said, the vision and the mission of the country is to connect India to realise the goal of Prime Minister's Digital India by bridging the digital divide. He said, it has given boost to Make-in-India as the key highlight of the project is that the telecom equipment deployed in it has been fully designed, developed and manufactured in the country. <br/><br/>The Minister said the project aims to provide affordable broadband services to citizens and institutions in rural and remote areas, in partnership with States and the private sector. <br/><br/>Speaking on the occasion, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the project has achieved a global record of laying of 800 kilometres of optical fibre per day. She said the BharatNet infrastructure is expected to catalyse digital delivery of services for the rural poor's health, education, livelihood, skills, e-agriculture and e-commerce.

Communications Minister Manoj Sinha has said that in the first phase of Bharat Net, one lakh Gram Panchayats have been linked with high speed broadband. <br/><br/>Addressing a fucntion in New Delhi today, he said, the first phase is over and in the second phase, 1.5 lakh Gram Panchyats will be connected with the broadband services by 2019. He said, the scheme will make a significant improvement in the lives of rural people. Bharat Net is playing an important role in realising the dream of digital India.