Sivasagar’s first ‘digital village’ project fails to deliver on promises

A CORRESPONDENT

NAZIRA: The Bhajani village of Sivasagar district, which was recognized as the district’s first digital village in 2019, has failed to live up to its promise. Despite the initial fanfare and promises of providing various services through the Common Service Centre (CSC) scheme, the village has not seen the expected development.

In a bid to transform Bhajani village into a fully digital village, a public awareness meeting was organized under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. The meeting was held at the Bhajani Primary School, where the then Deputy Manager, Information Technology department of Sivasagar district, Mofizuddin Ahmed, outlined the vision of a digital village.

According to Ahmed, the village was to benefit from various services, including medical kits, free computer education, solar-powered lights, government certificates, financial transactions, court-related services, online job applications, railway and flight ticket booking, and many other facilities. The initiative aimed to provide these services at a low cost, making them accessible to the villagers.

The Common Service Center (CSC) scheme was to be the backbone of this initiative, providing a range of services to the villagers. The CSC would have served as a one-stop solution for various needs, bridging the digital divide and bringing the benefits of technology to the rural population.

However, it appears that most of these services have not been implemented, and the village is left with only a few solar lights.

The local residents are now questioning the fate of the funds allocated for the digital village initiative and demanding answers from the authorities. The issue has sparked a heated debate on social media, with many questioning the effectiveness of the initiative and the role of the district administration.

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