The centers are part of the Indian government initiative to start about 100,000 similar ones pan India.
In West Bengal, the centers will be developed by Reliance Communications, which will provide connectivity to all villages in the state.
As per the memorandum of understanding signed between RCOM and the WB government, Reliance will set up 1,860 CSCs across the state.
The company will rope in services of sister concerns to deliver services in sectors such as finance, healthcare, education, training, capacity building, entertainment and energy.
"The signing of MoU with West Bengal Government is a leap forward in RCOM's endeavour to enter the e-governance space and bridge digital divide by providing ICT services in rural India," Prakash Bajpai, CEO (enterprise business) of RCOM said in a statement.
It may be recalled here that 3i infotech has signed a memorandum of understanding with Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd. (FINO) to offer financial services using common service centers (CSCs) in Haryana and Karnataka.
The CSCs will offer services such as utility bill payment, water tax, land record certificates, sales tax, VAT, e-filing of tax returns, issuance of income certificates, birth certificates, etc. Facilities such as micro finance, rural credit, rural banking, agricultural financing, insurance, etc will also be covered.
3i infotech will develop 300 and 800 centers in these two states. It would invest up to Rs.30 crore in Haryana and Rs.80 crore in Karnataka towards the development of these centers, in the next two to three months.
The projects are chiefly targeted at more than 6 crore people in these two states.
Quelle/Source: CXOToday, 10.05.2007
