Under its plan to provide telecommunication connectivity to rural areas, the government said that it has provided village public telephones in most of the villages in the country.
"Under Bharat Nirman, villages not having access to public telephones were to be provided with Village Public Telephones (VPTs). 5,77,671 villages, out of a total of 5,93,601 villages in the country, have been provided with VPTs," the UPA government said in its annual report card for the year 2010-11.
The government also said that it has provided broadband connections to more than 97,500 villages under its target of connecting 2.5 lakh village panchayats by 2012. To enhance broadband connectivity in villages, the government said the Universal Service Obligation Fund proposes to launch a 'Wireless Broadband Scheme', wherein broadband coverage will be provided to about five lakh villages across the country.
