Union Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia is set to inaugurate a Samriddhi Kendra in Umri village of Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district on March 14. This initiative, part of a pilot project by the Department of Telecommunications, aims to showcase how villages can benefit from integrated physical and digital services. The Samriddhi Kendra will serve as a one-stop service hub at the Panchayat Bhawan, offering a blend of physical facilities and digital services to enhance access to essential services in rural areas.
During the inauguration, the minister will assess various services demonstrated at the centre and engage with local beneficiaries. Additionally, he will launch a health check-up and cataract awareness program and address a public gathering. The initiative, according to the government, is designed to demonstrate how the high-speed digital infrastructure established under BharatNet can be leveraged to provide integrated citizen services at the village level.
The Samriddhi Kendra in Umri will deliver services spanning education, skill development, agriculture support, health, telemedicine, e-governance, financial inclusion, e-commerce, digital connectivity, and surveillance. This project in Umri is part of a broader pilot initiative that includes villages in two other states, namely Narakoduru in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district and Chaurawala in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district. Each Samriddhi Kendra will cater to multiple nearby villages within a five-kilometre radius, representing diverse demographic settings.
Implemented by the Department of Telecommunications with assistance from the Digital Empowerment Foundation, the Samriddh Gram Phygital Services Pilot aims to explore how integrated service delivery models can be developed using BharatNet connectivity. This initiative is anticipated to establish a replicable model for enhancing rural digital service ecosystems by integrating connectivity infrastructure, service delivery platforms, and community involvement.
