Why is it in the news?
The government launched a pilot initiative to integrate digital and physical services in rural areas.
It aims to enhance service delivery and rural development using digital infrastructure.
Category: Economy
Important Points:
● It is a phygital (physical + digital) model integrating on-ground and digital services.
● It aims to transform rural areas through seamless service delivery.
● It uses BharatNet connectivity as the backbone infrastructure.
● Three pilot villages identified across Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
● Each village will have a Samriddhi Kendra as a digital service hub.
● Services include education, agriculture, healthcare, e-governance and e-commerce.
● It enables smart classrooms, telemedicine, IoT-based farming and digital payments.
● It integrates with ONDC for promoting local entrepreneurship.
● It is implemented by the Department of Telecommunications.