The Centre will soon come out with a draft policy on rural business process outsourcing (BPO) policy and a presentation in this regard is likely to be made to Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad by next week.

In November, Prasad said that he had directed his officials to formulate guidelines regarding establishing BPO centres in small towns and cities across India, such as Gorakhpur, Ghazipur and Sagar.

“We are preparing the guidelines for the draft policy and will show the presentation to the Minister next week. If all goes well, the policy can be finalised soon, after the Minister’s consent,” a senior government official told BusinessLine .

The official said things are moving on a fast track toward the Digital India programme after the formation of a committee on National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), which is working on various programmes to connect rural areas.

The committee is in consultation with various State governments, industry bodies and other stakeholders on technology options and business models.

The eight-member committee includes J Satyanarayana, former secretary, Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY), former Nasscom presidents Kiran Karnik and Som Mittal, Director, CDAC, Aruna Sundararajan, Administrator, USO Fund, and V Umashankar, Joint Secretary, Department of Telecommunications.

Companies, such as Delhi-based B2R, Chennai-based Desicrew and Vindhya, and Bangalore-based Rural Shores, which are focussed in rural areas, can take a lead in working with the government, said the official.

According to industry veterans, such ideas can work out well only if there is a proper policy in place. The earlier government had also tried, but could not succeed, they added. According to them, the government can provide incentives for companies who set up centres in rural areas. Issues, such as land acquisition or taxes, should also be taken care of. The government, in return, can ask these companies to create jobs and train people from time to time, they added.

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