The Indian government's initiative of providing e-governance to villages is gathering some momentum: as of June 2009, the rollout of Internet connected Common Service Centers has been completed in the states of Jharkhand (4562), Haryana(1159) and Sikkim(45), and almost complete in Gujarat. A CSC essentially is a kiosk in a rural district, which allows online bill payments, booking tickets, applying for jobs, searching for market information and selling of local produce. CSCs are going to be managed by a Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE), which serves as the nodal point for services and government schemes. The CSC rollout is a part of the National E-Governance Plan (NeGP). In the states where the rollouts have begun, a total of 104,881 are expected to be installed. Of these, 40,750 CSCs are operational, according to India's Department of Telecom. The rollout, however, has not yet begun in…
