Coming soon: Subsidised public WiFi at fair price shops in 7 districts in Maharashtra

“The government is giving its approval to convert fair price shops to public data offices (PDOs). Its aim is to help children from low income families, who can use the internet via WiFi centres at the fair price shops for their homework and studies. Children from such families will also be able to attend online classes easily due to internet connection from such WiFi centres,” the GR said.

Besides these seven districts, local shops in other districts can also become public data providers if they are willing to do so, and can register with the government for this purpose, the GR added. The PM WANI scheme has been launched by the Centre to improve digital literacy and bridge the urban-rural digital divide.

The government also aims to promote small businesses and generate new employment while setting up these centres in fair price shops. The scheme can help shopkeepers improve their business and earn additional income by ‘selling internet services’ as internet data providers, an official said.

Apart from the PDOs, a PDO Aggregator (PDOA) will also be created to bring together and regulate all PDOs in the district. An aggregator needs to be registered with the Maharashtra government. An ‘app provider’ (AP) will be selected and appointed by the local district administration to develop an app that citizens can use to find the nearest data centre or hotspot location. This app will also take registration of users who avail the public WiFi services.

A central registry will be maintained with details of PDOs, PDOA and AP. The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-Dot), the central government’s telecommunications technology development centre, will be responsible for maintaining the registry.