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“PM WANI & Promising Indians — spreading WiFi coverage in the country”

Promising Indians has been expanding the WiFi footprint using the PM WANI framework to enable rural populations easy access to the Internet.

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VoicenData Bureau
New Update
Prerna Singh

Promising Indians has been expanding the WiFi footprint using the PM WANI framework to enable remote and rural populations easy access to the Internet. Prerna Singh, director and founder spent some time to give her perspectives on the changing landscape of Internet in India.

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What has been the journey of Promising Indians with PM WANI so far — number of hotspots, usage and new applications launched

Promising Indian Society is currently implementing PM WANI projects in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar for premium parliamentary constituencies. The experience so far has been very enriching and challenging at the same time.

There is a long way to go for creating desired digital infrastructure as the ground reality is lack of awareness amongst masses, inadequate fibre lines with almost nil maintenance and software support from centre.

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We have received approvals for 250+ hotspots in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. There is wide acceptance from public and now we have raised demand of more than 1000 hotspots at various locations.

We are committed to create 1 lakh Entrepreneurs by implementing PM-WANI Projects on PAN India basis till 2024. We have been working on 112 Aspirational Districts for creating public WiFi hotspots together with a few Members of Parliaments (MP) at different locations. We have submitted proposals to various Public Sector Undertakings, Corporates and organisations to join hands together and take this project to next level.

We have received approvals for 250+ hotspots in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. There is wide acceptance from public and now we have raised demand of more than 1000 hotspots at various locations.

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The data usage in 4 months is more than 1 terabyte.

What is the next stage of development of some of the key constituencies like Varanasi and Gandhinagar where you are using Wifi to enable health and education initiatives

Time and cost are two critical elements for the implementation, the key question is how we can rollout the broadband connectivity to the rural areas in the quickest and most cost-effective manner. The government is keenly looking forward to the speedy implementation of broadband connectivity for the success of its ‘marquee’ Digital India program.

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Promising Indians Society is the only organization which is implementing PM-WANI projects under CSR initiative to create entrepreneurs at grassroot level. Not only it will create self-sustainable model but also empower small business owners/ shopkeepers by augmenting their income.

The uniqueness of using the premium constituencies is the model which we will be setting up will reach out to masses quickly. The concept of “PM-WANI” framework, enables, the creation of a public hotspots for use of the local entrepreneurs to enable them to provide much needed broadband access to rural masses as a business case without any perpetual subsidy. We have aggressive plans for next year when dream of our Hon’ble Prime Minister will be realized in his own constituency.

How is WiFi enabling a social and inclusive revolution in our country ?

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Internet has become a necessity. The Internet is not just an information tool but is now a personal, social and economic development platform. The Internet has changed business, education, government, healthcare, and even the ways in which we interact with our loved ones—it has become one of the key drivers of social evolution.

Importance of the internet was driven home during COVID. It became a lifeline. From education to health and safety, daily groceries to social interactions everything relied totally on digital platform and internet connectivity. The demand for high speed data has increased many fold. The application ecosystem has fuelled the data consumption in the form of videos. This trend is not going to slow down. In fact, it will further fuel more activities online.

My Vision for DigiGaon is simply empowering Rural Women through Multi-Skilling, and capacity building to convert them into Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) and work as PDO (Public Data Office) under PM-WANI (Pradhan Mantri- Wifi Access Network Interface) framework.

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Offering Internet-based digital services is the key determinant of digital empowerment of citizens. It boosts entrepreneurship leading to new avenues of employment. For low income segments affordability of high speed Internet access is still a challenge. We need high speed public Wi-Fi at affordable rates to meet such demand. At present, there are around one lakh Wi-Fi hotspots in the country. As a public data office many entrepreneurs have set up public Wi-Fi hotspots under the PM-WANI framework.

We as PDO are trying to solve the problem of poor Internet connectivity and to bring high speed Internet at low cost within the reach of every Indian for digital inclusion and reducing the digital divide in country through our organisation.

Promising Indians – the foundation – also honors achievers in the technology and social sectors – what are your core objectives and reasons for this

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The 6th edition of one of the largest annual flagship events “Promising Indian Conclave & Awards 2022” is taking place at Constitutional Club of India on 18th of December, 2022. This is one of the largest corporate events and the ethos behind constituting these awards is to globally present India as business destination.

We have one exclusive category of Idea & Innovation wherein we award people in the field of Technology.

This event has a focussed session on PM-WANI to discuss the challenges and the way forward for PM-WANI Projects. There will be one panel discussion representing key stake holders from Ministry, Department of Telecommunications, C-DoT etc. in the conclave.

What is your vision on DigiGaon ?

My Vision for DigiGaon is simply empowering Rural Women through Multi-Skilling, and capacity building to convert them into Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) and work as PDO (Public Data Office) under PM-WANI (Pradhan Mantri- Wifi Access Network Interface) framework.

We will support the leadership and participation of rural women in all issues that affect their lives with better rural livelihoods. This all is possible because of the training imparted by us will skills to pursue new livelihoods and adapt technology to their needs.

Prerna Singh

Founder President, Promising Indian Society

feedbackvnd@cybermedia.co.in

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