The ambitious ‘BharatNet Project’ in Tamil Nadu to connect all the 12,525 Village Panchayats with high-speed bandwidth connectivity through optical fibre cable (OFC) is all set to be translated into reality, with an agreement signed to begin with implementation of two packages that are litigation-free. The Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited (TANFINET) on October 20, 2021, signed a ‘Master Service Agreement’ in Chennai to implement two of the four packages – package C and D- with the system integrators- M/s L & T (for package C) and M/s ITI Ltd. (for package D)- and a thirdparty agency, M/s BECIL (Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited, a Mini-Ratna Central Public Sector Undertaking) according to an official press release. The State Minister for Information Technology, T. Mano Thangaraj, was present on the occasion. The TANFINET is a special purpose vehicle formed to implement the BharatNet project in Tamil Nadu at a sanctioned cost of Rs.1,815.32 Crore. The project aims to provide ‘One Gbps’ bandwidth connectivity to all the village Panchayats eventually, as part of a major e-governance plan. To implement the project, four packages- A, B, C and D- were formed district-wise, and four system integrators were identified, one for each package, along with a third-party agency to inspect and audit the project implementation. The contracts now signed are for package C and package D. Of them, ‘Package C’ will include 3,326 village Panchayats in Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Pudukkottai, Namakkal, Karur, Coimbatore, Tirupur and Tiruchirappalli, districts. ‘Package D’ will cover 3,103 village Panchayats in the districts of Kanniyakumari, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Theni, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Dindigul and Sivaganga, providing a minimum ‘One Gbps’ bandwidth service to each village Panchayat. As regards package A and package B of the project, after the disposal of the pending litigations, those two packages will also be taken up for implementation to eventually cover all the 12,525 village Panchayats in Tamil Nadu, the release said. The BharatNet scheme enables to provide affordable yet quality “digital” services, e-education, telemedicine and triple-play services to all the village Panchayats in the state. In addition, this project aims to provide high speed Internet services to Government offices, schools, colleges and business enterprises. The project will augment the delivery of Government services and generate employment in rural areas, said Mr. Mano Thangaraj on the occasion...