ABOUT COMMON SERVICES CENTERS

 Common Services Centers (CSC) are one of the crucial enablers of the Digital India Programme. They are the access points for delivery of various e-governance and business 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. CSCs offer assisted access of e-services to citizens with a focus on enhancing governance, delivering essential government and public utility services, social welfare schemes, financial services, education and skill development courses, health and agriculture services and digital literacy, apart from a host of B2C services.

ABOUT CSC SPECIAL PURPOSE VEHICLE(CSC SPV)

CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle, has been set up by the Ministry of Electronics & IT under the Companies Act, 1956 to oversee the implementation of the CSC scheme. CSC SPV provides a centralized collaborative framework for delivery of services to citizens through CSCs, besides ensuring systemic viability and sustainability of the Scheme.

VISION OF CSC SPV

To develop CSCs as a dependable, reliable and ubiquitous IT-enabled network of citizen service points connecting local population with government departments, business establishments, banks, insurance companies and educational institutions, with an impact on primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the country’s economy.

CSC 2.O SCHEME

The CSC 2.0 Scheme was initiated in August 2015 to improve access to technology and digital service s for citizens in rural and remote areas of the country. CSC 2.0 Scheme proposes expansion of self-sustaining CSC network till Gram Panchayats by setting up more than 2.5 lakh CSCs within next four years; at least one CSC in every Gram Panchayat. This would include strengthening and integrating 100,000 CSCs already operational under the existing CSC Scheme and creating additional 1.5 lakh CSCs in Gram Panchayats. CSC 2.0 Scheme would lead to consolidation of service delivery through a universal technological platform at all the CSCs across the nation, thereby making the e-services, particularly G2C services, accessible any where across the country.

KEY FEATURES OF CSC 2.0

1. It aims at establishing a self-sustaining network of 2.5 lakh CSC centres in Gram Panchayats under Pillar 3 of the Digital India Programme, i.e. ‘Public Internet Access Programme’.
2. CSC 2.0 is envisaged as a transaction and service delivery based model, delivering a large bouquet of e-services through a single delivery platform.
3. The CSC network to be strengthened by ensuring standardization of available services and capacity building of all stakeholders involved.
4. Manpower resources to be provided to the SDAs as well as District e- Governance Society (DeGS) for enabling them to perform their roles and responsibilities, such as assistance, co-ordination for execution of project till delivery of e-governance services, monitoring and assessment. Help Desk support will also be provided by CSC SPV.
5. One of the key objectives of the Scheme is to increase the sustainability of VLEs by sharing maximum commission earned through delivery of e-services and encouraging women as VLEs.