BharatNet: CAG Slams Common Service Center for Poor Service Quality

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has singled out the Common Service Centre for the poor quality and fault-free service to BharatNet.

CSC Slammed for BharatNet by CAG

In a draft report, the CAG said that despite receiving a huge payment, the CSC failed to maintain efficient cable and infra maintenance in various circles. This led to a poor quality of service at a gram panchayat or village block level. Notably, the CSC had received ₹386.42 crore and 116.50 crore from July 2019 to December 2020 under MeitY.

CAG also said that USOF hadn't finalized anything to "effectively monitor the installation of access points" till as late as December 2020. It pointed out that USOF was only relying on data provided by CSC. The finding further noted that "the USOF could not impose a penalty" on CSC for delay in BharatNet work.

The CAG said, "in the absence of service-level agreement and prescribed timeline for restoration of faults and non-inclusion of penal clause, there was no deterrent for CSC to ensure that there is no delay in rectification of faults occuring in BharatNet phase- I". It also pointed out that following the loophole, BBNL was not able to provide fault-free service to its customers.

CAG also said that the CSC had even failed to provide the mandated 10 Mbps speed via FTTH connections to state institutions. It then suggested that BBNL should enforce CSC to maintain infrastructure as per the agreement.

Further, in states such as MP, AP, Gujarat and Maharashtra, the physical verification was not upto the mark. The CAG said that in Madhya Pradesh, only 3% or 372 village blocks were inspected out of 12700. What's more, merely three inspections were conducted in Gujarat.

Bharat Broadband has also sought action on CSC for substandard workmanship. In a letter dated June 29, BBNL said, "it has been reported by various state units of BBNL that the standard practices of optic fibre cable (OFC) laying are not being followed while carrying out corrective maintenance work by CVLEs". It also added that it reported issues in 24-core OFC faults restoration.

BharatNet - Three Decades in the Making

BharatNet is an important constituent of Digital India program that aims to provide multiple citizen-centric services to 1.3 billion Indians. Also, USOF is a ₹55,000-crore strong state reserve for the bridging the digital divide. It is also funding the ambitious BharatNet project. The project aims to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats or village blocks encompassing more than 6 lakh villages across India. The government formed BBNL in 2012 as an SPV to oversee BharatNet's operations and maintenance.

The new arrangement is a part of a three-way agreement for operating and maintaining BharatNet. The parties involved were USOF, BBNL and CSC, finalizing the arrangement in July 2019. After that, the DCC approved  the same in September 2020.

Last week, the Cabinet approved a viability gap funding of up to ₹19,041 crore for the BharatNet initiative. The initiative will launch on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in 16 states. The government hopes that it can leverage the private sector. Particularly, its ability to efficiently roll out national broadband network as well as operation, maintenance, utilisation and revenue generation. However, industry sources say that the private players may not find the existing BharatNet architecture and assets lucrative enough to upgrade the network or monetize.

Since its inception, BharatNet has faced several controversies and has missed several deadlines. The center has set a new deadline of August 2021, which is looking unlikely. To that regard, however, PM Modi had said last year that the government will connect 6 lakh villages in the next 1,000 days.