Indian Railways has a new project under the "Railwire Saathi" in order to provide free Wi-Fi connection to 500 remote stations. The WiFi hotspot will help people to access various online services, including the various government schemes.
The Wi-Fi kiosk will use to access the e-commerce, online banking, school/university and insurance schemes, as well as e-ticketing service for trains and bus services. This Railwire Saathi service will help to connect the remote areas to the Internet, as well as to create new employment opportunities. a senior officer of the Ministry of Railways told PTI.
At present, Indian Railways combined with Google to provide free High-Speed Wi-Fi service in 400 stations around the country. Although Railwire Saathi schemes aim to create employment, as well as free Wi-Fi service. Railwire Saathi is a Wi-Fi business model where the unemployed youth, women will be trained for setup and support the Wi-Fi hotspot.
For working in the Railwire Saathi project, the interested candidates required to contact with RailTel for training. This training course will be approved by National Skill Development Council (NSDC). After being trained by RailTel, the candidates will receive a certificate that can be used to get the loan under the Mudra scheme. Using the loan amount, they will be able to install and manage Wi-Fi hotspots according to the design provided by RailTel
RailTel, a telecom part of Indian railway, will work in the Railwire Saathi scheme across the country. This new service is expected to be launched from the month of May. However, there is no information about the station where the service will be launched.