Fibre Reached the Village. Samriddh Gram Is the Attempt to Make It Matter
DoT's phygital service-delivery model wins the WSIS Prize 2026 — a case study in converting broadband infrastructure into actual rural service consumption
What happened
The interesting question about BharatNet was never how many kilometres of fibre were laid — it was why usage lagged so far behind availability. Samriddh Gram is the state's own answer to that question, and it is worth studying as an admission: connectivity is an input, not an outcome. For a Mains answer on digital inclusion, this distinction between infrastructure supply and service demand is the analytical move that separates a descriptive answer from an evaluative one.
Samriddhi Kendra — One Node, Seven Service Lines
What the Village Hub Bundles
Smart classrooms, AR/VR
IoT soil testing, drones
Teleconsultation, Health ATM
Certificates, scheme access
ONDC integration
Banking, insurance access
FTTH, VAN, public Wi-Fi
Source: PIB, Ministry of Communications; International Telecommunication Union, WSIS Prizes 2026
Samriddh Gram is the Department of Telecommunications' rural digital transformation initiative, built on the BharatNet backbone and delivered through Samriddhi Kendras — one-stop village-level hubs offering both digital and assisted physical services.
●Service lines span education and skilling (smart classrooms, AR/VR learning), agriculture (IoT-based soil testing, drone support, smart irrigation), healthcare (teleconsultation, Health ATMs), e-governance, e-commerce with ONDC integration, financial inclusion, and connectivity itself through BharatNet FTTH, village area networks and public Wi-Fi.
●It was declared Global Winner at the WSIS Prizes 2026 under Action Line C6 — Enabling Environment, at the WSIS Forum in Geneva.
●The World Summit on the Information Society was held in two phases, Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005), and its Action Lines C1–C11 are today coordinated through the WSIS Forum, co-organised by the ITU with UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD. BharatNet itself began as the National Optical Fibre Network in 2011, was renamed in 2015, and was recast as the Amended BharatNet Programme approved by the Cabinet in 2023 to extend last-mile connectivity to all inhabited villages; it is funded from the Digital Bharat Nidhi, the successor to the Universal Service Obligation Fund under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
BharatNet solved availability; Samriddh Gram is aimed at adoption — the recognition that fibre reaching a Gram Panchayat and a household actually using a service are two different problems requiring two different instruments.
◎ In Simple Words
India has laid internet cables to more than two lakh village councils. But having a cable nearby does not automatically mean people use the internet — many do not have a device, the skills, or a reason to. So the government set up village centres called Samriddhi Kendras, where a trained person helps you actually use the services: talk to a doctor online, get your soil tested, take a class, open a bank account, sell your produce. It mixes physical help with digital tools — which is why it is called 'phygital'. A United Nations body gave it a global award in 2026.
Factual Pointers
Practice · 2 questions
With reference to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), consider the following statements:
1. It was held in two phases, at Geneva in 2003 and at Tunis in 2005.
2. Its outcomes are organised into Action Lines, and the annual WSIS Forum is co-organised by the International Telecommunication Union with UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD.
3. It is a specialised agency of the United Nations with its own permanent secretariat and member-state assembly.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
The Digital Bharat Nidhi, which finances rural telecom expansion including BharatNet, was established as the successor to which of the following?
Mains Practice Questions
"India's rural digital challenge has shifted from connectivity to consumption." Critically examine this proposition with reference to BharatNet and assisted service-delivery models. (250 words, GS3)
Assisted digital access points can widen inclusion but also create new gatekeepers. Discuss, drawing on India's experience with village-level service centres. (250 words, GS2)
Evaluate the adequacy of the Digital Bharat Nidhi as a financing instrument for universal rural digital service delivery. (150 words, GS3)
Frequently Asked
· People also askWhat is Samriddh Gram?
Samriddh Gram is the Department of Telecommunications' rural digital transformation initiative built on the BharatNet network. Its core is the Samriddhi Kendra — a village-level one-stop centre providing both digital and assisted physical services across healthcare, education, agriculture, e-governance, e-commerce and financial inclusion.
Prelims · GS2The model is described as 'phygital' because it pairs digital back-end systems with in-person assistance, addressing device-ownership, literacy and trust barriers that pure self-service delivery leaves unresolved.
SOURCE Department of Telecommunications; PIB
What is the WSIS Prize and which category did India win?
The WSIS Prizes are awarded annually under the World Summit on the Information Society framework, coordinated by the ITU. Samriddh Gram was declared Global Winner in 2026 under Action Line C6 — Enabling Environment, at the WSIS Forum in Geneva.
Prelims · GS2Selection involved international screening, a global online vote exceeding 2.2 million votes across all nominated projects, selection among the top five Champion Projects in the category, and final adjudication by the WSIS Expert Committee across 18 award categories.
SOURCE International Telecommunication Union; PIB
What is BharatNet and how many Gram Panchayats does it cover?
BharatNet is India's rural optical-fibre broadband programme, among the largest in the world. More than 2.17 lakh Gram Panchayats have been made service-ready and online. It began as the National Optical Fibre Network in 2011, was renamed BharatNet in 2015, and was recast as the Amended BharatNet Programme in 2023.
Prelims · GS3The Amended BharatNet Programme extends the mandate from Gram Panchayat connectivity to last-mile household and village connectivity, financed from the Digital Bharat Nidhi.
SOURCE Department of Telecommunications
What services does a Samriddhi Kendra offer?
Education and skilling through smart classrooms and AR/VR learning; agriculture through IoT-based soil testing, drone support and smart irrigation; healthcare through teleconsultation and Health ATMs; e-governance; e-commerce integrated with ONDC; financial inclusion; and connectivity via BharatNet FTTH, village area networks and public Wi-Fi.
GS2 · GovernanceBundling these at one point raises footfall enough to make the centre viable — a response to the failure of single-purpose rural kiosks, where low transaction volumes made operations unsustainable.
SOURCE Department of Telecommunications; DD India
What is the Digital Bharat Nidhi?
The Digital Bharat Nidhi is the fund created by the Telecommunications Act, 2023 to replace the Universal Service Obligation Fund. Financed by a levy on telecom operators' revenue, it finances extension of telecom services to rural and underserved areas, including BharatNet, and now also supports research and pilot projects.
SOURCE Telecommunications Act, 2023
Why does India need assisted access if villages already have broadband?
Because availability is not adoption. Fibre reaching over 2.17 lakh Gram Panchayats does not resolve device ownership, digital literacy, local-language content or trust — barriers that fall hardest on women, the elderly and less-educated household members. Assisted access points convert a self-service system into a mediated one.
GS3 · Inclusive GrowthThe same logic underlies banking correspondents in financial inclusion: the back end is digital, but the channel is human. The trade-off is that intermediation can introduce informal charging and uneven service quality, as the Common Service Centre experience showed.
SOURCE Department of Telecommunications
What are the WSIS Action Lines?
They are eleven thematic areas (C1–C11) agreed in the World Summit on the Information Society's Geneva Plan of Action (2003) and Tunis Agenda (2005), covering areas from infrastructure to ethical dimensions. Action Line C6 concerns the enabling policy and regulatory environment for the information society.
GS2 · IRFollow-up is coordinated through the annual WSIS Forum, co-organised by the ITU with UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, and the Action Lines are now mapped against the Sustainable Development Goals.
SOURCE International Telecommunication Union