Common Service Centres

Common Service Centres (CSC) (Hindi: सर्व सेवा केंद्र) are physical facilities for delivering Government of India e-Services to rural and remote locations where availability of computers and Internet was negligible or mostly absent. They are multiple-services-single-point model for providing facilities for multiple transactions at a single geographical location.

CSC e-Governance Services India Limited
Digital Seva Kendra
TypePublic
Founded16 July 2009 (2009-07-16)
FounderMinistry of Electronics and Information Technology
HeadquartersElectronics Niketan,
New Delhi
,
India
Area served
Most of India
Key people
Ajay Prakash Sawhney (Chairman), Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi (MD), Sanjay Kumar Rakesh (CEO)
Websitecsc.gov.in

CSCs are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country. It is a pan-India network catering to regional, geographic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, thus enabling the Government's mandate of a socially, financially and digitally inclusive society. [1]

Objectives

Officially, the objectives of the CSC have been stated as follows:[2]

  • Access to information : all remote/ rural citizens
  • Delivery of public services – G2C & B2C
  • ICT for rural Empowerment of socially disadvantaged people for inclusive growth
  • Access to quality education / skill upgradation
  • Access to cost efficient & quality health services
  • CSC as a change agent - To promote rural entrepreneurship, enable community participation and effect collective action for social improvement[3]

Through a collaborative framework, the objective of CSC is to integrate the twin goals of profit-making and social services, into a sustainable business model for achieving rapid socio-economic change in rural India.


Functions

The following types of services are expected to be provided at the CSCs:[2]

  1. G2C Communication - All G2C (Government to Consumer) Communication including Health, Education, Agriculture, Human Resource Development, Employment, Fundamental Rights, Disaster Warnings, RTI, etc.
  2. Information dissemination - Interactive kiosks, voice & Local Language Interface, including web browsing
  3. Edutainment - Including multi-functional space for group interaction, entertainment, training and empowerment
  4. eGovernance & eServices - Transactions like Market (eKrishi) Information, Banking, Insurance, Travel, Post, eForms to request government services, etc.
  5. C2G Kiosk - Grievances, complaints, requests and suggestions.
  6. Financial Inclusion - Payment for NREGA, etc.
  7. Healthcare - Telemedicine & remote health camps have also been envisaged as part of the CSC's extended functionalities
  8. Agriculture
  9. Rural BPO

CSC 2.0 Scheme

[4] Based on the assessment of CSC scheme, the Government launched the CSC 2.0 scheme in 2015 to expand the outreach of CSCs to all Gram Panchayats across the country. Under CSC 2.0 scheme, at least one CSC will be set up in each of the 2.5 lakh GPs across the country by 2019. CSCs functioning under the existing scheme will also be strengthened and integrated with additional 1.5 lakh CSCs across the country. CSC 2.0 scheme would consolidate service delivery through a universal technology platform, thereby making e-services, particularly G2C services accessible to citizens anywhere in the country. The CSC Grameen eStore App developed under CSC scheme is powered by MiGrocer.[5]

Key Features of CSC 2.0 scheme

  1. A self-sustaining network of 2.5 lakh CSCs in Gram Panchayats
  2. Large bouquet of e-services through a single delivery platform
  3. Standardization of services and capacity building of stakeholders
  4. Localised Help Desk support
  5. Sustainability of VLEs through maximum commission sharing
  6. Encouraging more women as VLEs

Project components

The Project Components of the CSC consist primarily of Content & Services, Technology, Connectivity, Capacity Building and Business Model.[6]

Required CSC Infrastructure:

  • Room/Building having a place of 100-150 Sq. Ft.
  • Two PC's with UPS with 5 hours battery back-up or portable generator set.
  • PC with licensed Operating System of Windows 7 or above.
  • Two Printers. (Inkjet+ Laser)
  • RAM having the minimum storage capacity of 2 GB
  • Hard Disc Drive of at least 250 GB
  • Digital Camera/ Web Cam
  • Wired/ Wireless/V-SAT Connectivity
  • Biometric/IRIS Authentication Scanner for Banking Services.
  • CD/DVD Drive
  • UPS Integration [7]

[8]

History

The CSC project, which forms a strategic component of the National eGovernance Plan was approved in September 2006.[9][3] It is also one of the approved projects under the Integrated Mission Mode Projects of the National eGovernance Plan.[10] "CSC e-Governance Services India Limited" incorporated on 16 July 2009.[11]

The implementation of the CSC would be done in a Public–private partnership (PPP) model whereby the total project cost of Rs. 57.42 billion, over 4 years, would be shared between Government(30% equal to Rs. 16.49billion) and private finances (70% equal to Rs. 40.93 billion).[2] The split between central and state government would be Rs. 8.56 billion and Rs. 7.93 billion respectively. As of 31st Jan 2011, 88,689 CSCs have been rolled out in thirty-one States/UTs. 100% CSCs have been rolled out in 11 (Eleven) States (Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Manipur, Pondicherry, Sikkim & Tripura). More than 80% of the rollout has been completed in 6 States (Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and West Bengal). In about 6 States (Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand) implementation of CSCs have crossed halfway mark (more than 50%). It is expected that the rollout of 100,000 CSCs would be completed by March 2011.


Revenue support to Common Service Centres

It is envisaged that G2Cservices may take longer to be operational, hence the SCA (Service Centre Agencies) are to be provided support in the form of “Guaranteed Provision of Revenue from Governmental Services” over a period of four years, once the CSCs are certified as operational by the SDA (State Designed Agency). The amount of revenue support is proposed to be 33.33% of the normative value which works out to Rs. 3304/- per CSC per month. This support is to be shared by the Union and State Governments in equal ratio. However, the exact amount of support is to be arrived at through a ‘price discovery mechanism’ discovered through bids (not to exceed 50% of the normative value). [12] [13]

See also

References
  1. csc.gov.in
  2. "NeGP overview" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  3. "Common Service Centre website". Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  4. "CSC 2.0 Scheme Guidelines" (PDF). Mission Mode Project.
  5. "MiGrocer". cscestore.in. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  6. "Project Components on CSC website". Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  7. CSC Registration
  8. "Digital Seva Portal CSC". Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  9. "Common Services Centres(CSC) | Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India". meity.gov.in. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  10. NISG eGov Knowledge eXchange
  11. "CSC E-governance Services India Limited Information - CSC E-governance Services India Limited Company Profile, News on The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  12. "National e-Governance Plan 7 - 2nd Administrative ... page no. 121" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  13. "common services centers (CSC) scheme revenue support ... page no. 4". Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
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