The Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri. Durgadas Uikey informed Lok Sabha that the Department of Telecommunications through Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) has approved various mobile projects to provide 4G Mobile connectivity in identified uncovered villages including tribal dominated villages across the country.
For the Sasaram Lok Sabha Constituency in Bihar, comprising Kaimur and Rohtas districts, significant progress has been made with 75 towers planned in Kaimur (71 on-air) covering 122 villages, and 24 towers planned in Rohtas (22 on-air) covering 27 villages as of June 30, 2026. Overall coverage data shows Kaimur district has 1,692 total villages with 1,685 covered by mobile network (only 7 uncovered) and 1,684 covered by 4G (8 uncovered), while Rohtas has 2,072 total villages with 2,069 covered by mobile network (3 uncovered) and 2,068 covered by 4G (4 uncovered).
The constituency currently has 4,377 4G Base Transceiver Stations and 1,110 5G BTSs operational. However, 12 specific villages remain uncovered by 4G services across both districts, with detailed listings provided for Karmchat, Manradag, Bhuruli, Marapa, Patpar, Sohdag, Khukhuman in Kaimur district, and Shergarh, Chapri, Jawarh, Ramgarha in Rohtas district.
Nationwide funding under the Digital Bharat Nidhi program totaled ₹2,183.10 crore disbursed during 2021-26 across 15 states/headquarters. Major recipients include Headquarter (₹977.86 crore), Orissa (₹329.43 crore), Maharashtra (₹301.46 crore), Andhra Pradesh (₹282.89 crore), Bihar (₹99.43 crore), Telangana (₹60.33 crore), and Rajasthan (₹46.56 crore), with smaller amounts to other states.
The government is committed to achieving saturation of telecom connectivity in underserved tribal areas through the PM-JANMAN scheme, which envisages providing mobile connectivity to uncovered villages/habitations including those inhabited by Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) within a three-year mission period. Implementation progress is monitored by Department of Telecommunications/Digital Bharat Nidhi in coordination with telecom service providers, state governments, and Ministry of Tribal Affairs through periodic monitoring, MIS reporting, and PM Gati Shakti/PM-JANMAN dashboards.