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Digital Bharat Nidhi, under the Department of Telecommunications, signed an agreement at Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi for implementing the Amended BharatNet Programme in Jharkhand under the State-led model.
The Centre approved financial assistance of Rs 1,684 crore for Jharkhand, to upgrade 4,387 Gram Panchayats to ring topology and extend on-demand broadband to 26,777 villages.
The agreement involves DBN, the Government of Jharkhand, BSNL, Jharkhand Communication Network Limited and a new special purpose vehicle, Jharkhand Digital Infrastructure Corporation Limited.
Digital Bharat Nidhi was formerly the Universal Service Obligation Fund and now operates under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
Contributions by telecom companies to DBN are first credited to the Consolidated Fund of India, and the balance to DBN's credit does not lapse at the end of a financial year.
Renamed the Universal Service Obligation Fund as Digital Bharat Nidhi and widened its mandate beyond rural access to include research and development, pilot projects and the introduction of new telecom services.
Fund universal service in telecommunications - access and delivery in underserved rural, remote and urban areas - along with R&D and pilot projects
Key: Formerly USOF; operates under the Telecommunications Act, 2023; contributions route through the Consolidated Fund of India and the DBN balance does not lapse at year end
Extend and upgrade broadband connectivity to Gram Panchayats and villages, with on-demand connections beyond the Gram Panchayat level
Key: In Jharkhand it runs on the State-led model through a state special purpose vehicle, with Rs 1,684 crore of central assistance covering 4,387 Gram Panchayats and 26,777 villages
Instead of a single line running out to a village, the fibre is laid as a closed loop. If the cable breaks at one point, traffic travels the other way around the ring, so connectivity survives a single cut.
Simple Analogy: A circular road - one blockage, and you drive the other way.
GS Paper II > Government policies and interventions; GS Paper III > Infrastructure - communications and digital connectivity
General Awareness > Schemes, funds and their governing Acts
The renamed Universal Service Obligation Fund, operating under the Telecommunications Act, 2023
An entity selected by the DBN Administrator through bidding or invitation of applications to execute a funded project
A closed-loop network design that keeps connectivity alive when the fibre is cut at a single point