The Hindu

PANAJI, May 10: Goa’s ambitious e-governance project, Goa broadband network based on public-private partnership concept, has run into rough weather with the failure of the private partner to complete the first phase of the project as scheduled.

The project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December last. While the State Government has issued a show-cause notice to the Bangalore-based United Telecom Company, the private investor, for the delay in the implementation of the project, the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), early this week demanded that the contract be scrapped.

“This service will be a drain on public exchequer,” Leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar, said early this week. The cost of the broadband services provided by BSNL was lower than what was offered by the UTC, he added.

Minister for Information Technology Dayanand Narvekar, however, said that the Government would not lose anything since it was not investing money in the project.

The Government had claimed that the broadband network project was the first of its kind in the country which would connect the 11 taluks in the State with government offices in the first phase and all households would have IT-enabled services in the second phase.

The Government would take a decision based on the reply of the telecom partner. “We have to decide whether to terminate the project or give them more time,” Mr. Narvekar said on Wednesday.