 "Kerala: K-FON in financial crisis as it fails to hit target even after 7 months of launch")
synopsis
Even after seven months of the launch, K-FON continues to be in a financial crisis as it has not yet reached its target. K-FON intends to provide free broadband connections to 14,000 economically disadvantaged families in Kerala.
Thiruvananthapuram: The K-FON project of the state government is in dire financial crisis, though it is touted to be the state's dream project. The inability of K-FON to reach its aim even months after its launch can be attributed in large part to the financial shortage. Recently, the government approved just half of the Rs 53 crore that K-FON had requested.
K-FON is a massive project that, tax charges excluded, is worth Rs 1548 crore. Seven months have passed since the project's official launch, following multiple modifications to its initial goals. One point of criticism is that there was a lack of timely announcements. On the other hand, there is the crisis of working capital scarcity. The previous budget included Rs 100 crore for K-FON, which must carry out the government's commitments, such as giving BPL families free connections.
Rs 85 crore allocated by the central government under the infrastructure development project was delayed by the finance department for a long time and K-FON later received it. K-Phone has to pay back Rs 100 crore per year for the amount taken from KIIFB. Another Rs 30 crores is required to operate K-FON's office system and to pay rent to KSEB. The condition is that the government will not pay the maintenance cost to be paid to the Bell consortium and K-FON has to raise it itself. In short, it is a situation that cannot be sustained if it is not possible to do business of at least Rs 350 crores annually.
Kerala: Six months since launch, not even one-third of free K-FON connections provided to poor
K-FON intends to provide free broadband connections to 14,000 economically disadvantaged families in Kerala as well as internet connectivity to an estimated 30,000 government workplaces in the state as part of the initial phase.
The state government launched the K-FON programme to prevent private cable networks and mobile service providers from taking advantage of it. The Chief Minister had emphasised that the K-FON initiative, which the LDF government planned to implement through the Department of Electricity and IT, will aid in closing the social digital divide.
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