<span style="color: #222222;">Minister of State for Panchayat Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil told the Lok Sabha today, all the village panchayats in the country are expected to be provided broadband connectivity by August 2023. In a written reply, he said, the connectivity will be made under the BharatNet project which is being implemented in a phased manner. He added, the scope of the ambitious project has been extended upto all the inhabited villages in the country. He informed that, as of 17th January this year, 1,70,136 village panchayats have been made 'Service Ready' under the project.<br />''<br />''The minister said, 2.55 lakh rural local bodies, 5390 panchayat unions or block panchayats, and 481 district panchayats have prepared their development plans under the eGramSwaraj Application for the current year. He also said, 1.81 lakh village panchayats have made online payments worth 72,554 crore rupees through the eGramSwaraj Public Finance Management Scheme interface.</span>