Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday directed officials to ensure that all villages in the state have internet connectivity in the next two years.
Speaking at a review meeting on the rural internet connectivity and laptop scheme for students, the Chief Minister laid stress on providing internet connectivity with unlimited capacity or at least 20 GB capacity in villages to help the people adapt to the new ‘Work From Home’ model.
He also called for providing internet connectivity in the upcoming YSR Jagananna Colonies and instructed the authorities to come up with an action plan accordingly, keeping in mind the addition of 31 lakh houses. He directed the officials to lay underground cables in 108 cyclone-affected villages to ensure uninterrupted internet connectivity even during the storms.
The Chief Minister called for setting up YSR Village Digital Libraries at village secretariats and asked the officials to arrange six computers at each library by the time the construction of libraries was completed.
With regard to the Amma Vodi scheme, the CM said laptops must be provided to the students who opted for it on January 9. Earlier, the state government provided an option to the students pursuing Classes from IX to XII to either receive a laptop or money.
He said the laptops that are being provided to the students should come with a proper guarantees and warranty cards, along with ‘service’ support. If a laptop wasn’t functioning well, the Chief Minister said the student should be able to hand it over to the concerned village secretariat, which will get it repaired.
Energy secretary N. Srikanth informed the CM that they could complete the provision of internet connectivity in all the villages in the state by March 2023 and said that so far 14,671 km distance of aerial cable was laid in 3,642 villages of 307 mandals in the state.
Rural development commissioner M. Girija Sankar said that each YSR Village Digital Library would be coming up at 690 square feet area at an estimated cost of Rs 16 lakh with 20 seats.
School education principal secretary B. Rajasekhar said that they were offering two models of laptops with high-end versions for engineering students.
