Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, who has helmed the state since 2003 and is looking to secure a fourth term, launched the Sanchar Kranti Yojana scheme in July 2018.
The districts in Chhattisgarh with the lowest mobile penetration have got only 10 lakh of the 28.8 lakh phones under the first phase of Chief Minister Raman Singh's Sanchar Kranti Yojana (SKY), according to a report by The Indian Express.
The report states that till September 28, over 86 lakh phones with added sops such as free six-month data plan and 100 free call minutes per month for the first six months have been distributed.
Singh, who has helmed the state since 2003 and is looking to secure a fourth term, launched the scheme in July 2018. The scheme aims at reaching out to 45 lakh women belonging to poor families and five lakh college students. The scheme also aims to benefit 40.8 lakh rural households and 5.67 lakh urban ones.
"The scheme will ensure that the ongoing developmental activities attain new heights in the region and the state," President Ram Nath Kovind had said while launching SKY in Jagdalpur.
According to the report, however, people owning a mobile phone in the 16 districts identified as having the least amount of mobile penetration, are fewer than the state average of 29 percent.
These 16 districts account for 38 of the 90 assembly seats and 40 percent of the electorate in the upcoming assembly polls in the state. According to the report, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had managed to win 19 of these 38 seats during the 2013 polls.
In the Naxal-affected Bastar region, 12 seats together have received 2 lakh phones so far.
An official from the Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS)— the agency administering the smartphone scheme — told the paper that in seats such as Sukma and Bijapur in the state's southern belt, phone distribution is incomplete because the mobile network is yet to be fully laid out in the area.
According to CHIPS CEO Alex Menon, the freebie project is an "extensive" scheme for a "small state like Chhattisgarh."
"The reality is Chhattisgarh is struggling with connectivity and mobile penetration. We were discussing how to do something drastic. The scheme has been a data-driven governance scheme from day one," Menon told the paper.
According to the data accessed by the paper from CHIPS, almost 10,000 villages have been completely covered by phones and over 2,500 villages are semi-covered while over 7,000 villages are yet to receive mobile phones or connectivity.Assembly Elections 2018: Read the latest news, views and analysis here
