- Why in news
- On 29 July 2026, the IT Minister told the Lok Sabha that Common Service Centres rose from 83,950 (May 2014) to 5,01,731 (May 2026). They now cover 2,56,743 Gram Panchayats.
- What it is
- The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was a 2006 programme to put government services within reach of citizens through common delivery outlets. It built shared digital infrastructure and many Mission Mode Projects. In 2015 it was subsumed into the Digital India Programme, which keeps CSCs as last-mile centres.
- NeGP approval
- NeGP was approved in May 2006 to make government services accessible locally through common delivery outlets.
- Digital India
- Digital India was launched in July 2015 and NeGP was subsumed under it.
- Core NeGP infrastructure
- NeGP created State Data Centres, SWANs, State Service Delivery Gateways and CSCs.
- CSC 2.0
- The CSC scheme was approved in September 2006. It was restructured as CSC 2.0 in August 2015 to have at least one CSC in each of about 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats.
- District e-Governance Societies
- DeGS are registered societies under State Governments and district administrations. They are the district-level nodal mechanism for e-District, CSC and other initiatives.
- BharatNet
- 2.21 lakh Gram Panchayats were service-ready under BharatNet as of June 2026.
Don’t confuse with NeGP vs Digital India: NeGP (2006) focused on Mission Mode Projects and shared infrastructure. Digital India (2015) subsumed it and added digital literacy, employment and infrastructure goals.
Don’t confuse with CSC 1.0 vs CSC 2.0: CSC 1.0 was the original NeGP scheme. CSC 2.0 is the 2015 restructuring under Digital India, aiming for one CSC in every Gram Panchayat.
Schemes: 52 Prelims questions since 2013, 10 in Prelims 2026 alone. They test features, the period and who funds it. In Mains, 33 news-triggered questions, mostly GS3.
Why it matters
- CSCs bring government and private services to villages, saving citizens travel time and cost.
- They support rural entrepreneurship through Village Level Entrepreneurs.
Problems
- Many CSCs depend on VLE sustainability and on State services being integrated into the CSC portal.
- Gram Panchayat connectivity is incomplete, since 2.21 lakh GPs are BharatNet service-ready against about 2.5 lakh.
Way forward
- Speed up BharatNet connectivity and integrate more State e-District services with CSCs.
- Build VLE skills and strengthen the role of District e-Governance Societies.
Put in your answer
ISB mid-term assessment of CSC 2.0: Per transaction, CSCs cut waiting time by 69.45 minutes and wage loss by ₹179.44.
CSC transactions: CSC transactions were 4854.03 lakh in 2025-26 against 457.29 lakh in 2014-15.
- 2015Mains GS3 · Q4How Digital India can improve farm productivity and income; government steps
- 2025Mains GS2 · Q7Why e-governance projects favour technology over user-centric design
- 2019Mains GS2 · Q8Factors hindering ICT projects and measures for effective implementation
- 2018Prelims Q36Aims of the Digital India Plan: which statements are correct
- 2016Prelims Q84Whether DigiLocker is a Digital India e-document access system
- 2024Prelims Q98Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme: funding, digitisation, transliteration statements
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Lasting governance topic: NeGP approved May 2006, subsumed in Digital India in July 2015. It is background, so the question chance is low.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.