CSC (Common Service Centers) Locator, CSC Centers 2025

CSC 2.0 Scheme 

CSC 2.0 was established in August 2015 with the goal of enhancing digital services and giving remote and rural Indians access to technology. The plan is for adding over 2.5 lakh CSCs over the next four years, with at least one in each Gram Panchayat. The program will also improve service delivery, especially G2C services that can be accessed nationwide through a single technological platform. It also seeks to support the existing 1 lakh. 

History of CSC (Common Service Centers) Locator in India

The CSC project was approved by the Government of India in September 2006 and is a strategic part of the National eGovernance Plan. It is also a part of the Integrated Mission Mode Projects of the National eGovernance Plan. The CSC would be implemented in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model where the total cost of the project is Rs.57.42 billion.

This total project cost would be shared between private financial institutions (70% equal to Rs.40.93 billion) the Government (30% equal to Rs.16.49 billion). The split between state and central government would be Rs.7.93 billion and Rs.8.56 billion respectively.

As of 31 January 2011, around 88,689 CSCs have been introduced in Tripura, Sikkim, Pondicherry, Manipur, Kerala, Jharkhand, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, Delhi, and Chandigarh. Over 80% of CSC implementation has been completed in West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Assam. More than 50% of the rollout has been completed in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Odissa, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Types of CSC Application 

The following are the types of CSC applications: 

1. FPS 
2. FPO 
3. RDD 

1. CSC VLE 
2. Self Help Group (SHG) 
3. Banking 
4. E-Shram 
5. NULM SHG 

Functions and Features of CSC Centres

The following are the functions and features of CSC:

1. It provides private sector services
2. It builds rural livelihood and capacities
3. It focuses on rural entrepreneurship
4. It offers multi-dimensional initiatives
5. It is a one-stop solution for the various government to businesses and citizens to citizen services

Structure of CSC (Common Service Centers)

The CSC model consists of a three-tier structure:

• Service Center Agency (SCA) - The CSC-owned SCA is in charge of establishing the common services centres and choosing their locations. Through various promotional activities that will be held at the state or municipal levels, it seeks to raise awareness of the SCS that are present in rural areas.
• State Designed Authority (SDA) - The state government appoints an SDA, which is responsible for supervising the implementation of CSC services in the state.
• Village Level Entrepreneur - The Village Level Entrepreneur or VLE is a CSC operator. One VLE will cover six villages.

List of Services Which Are Provided by CSC Centres

The following is the list of services provided by CSC:

Government to Consumers

Under Government to Consumers category, here are the services provided by the government to its citizens:

1. Pension Service
2. Digitize India
3. Cyber Gram
4. Individual Household Latrine Application (IHHL) Project of MoUD (Swachh Bharat)
5. Department of Postal Services
6. State Water Bill Collection and Electricity Services
7. E-Courts and Results Services
8. National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) Services
9. Electoral Services
10. Premium Collection Services
11. Aadhar Enrolment and Printing
12. Apollo Telemedicine
13. Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card
14. E-District and E-Nagrik Services (Birth/Death Certificates)
15. Insurance Services
16. National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) Registration
17. Passport

Business to Consumer

CSC provides the following services offered by business houses that are related to e-commerce, ticket booking, CSC bazaar, e-learning and so on:

1. e-learning
2. e-commerce sales (electronic goods, household items, books, etc.
3. Spoken English Course
4. Ticket booking services - Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), bus, and flight
5. CSC Bazaar
6. Online cricket course
7. Agricultural services
8. Direct to Home (DTH) and mobile recharge

Business to Business B2B

The following are the facilities provided under the Business-to-Business B2B system:

1. Market research and management
2. Rural data collection and digitization of data
3. Adult literacy
4. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) services

Digital Literacy Service

Here's the list of services provided under digital literacy:

1. National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) financial literacy program
2. Investor awareness programs
3. Ration card holder
4. Anganwadi worker
5. Asha worker

NIOS Services

The CSC provides NIOS service centres which perform the following tasks:

1. Open schooling in rural parts of the country
2. Registration for open schooling
3. Examination fee payment
4. Result declaration

NIELIT Services

It comprises the following services which are related to the exam:

1. Online registration
2. Fee payment
3. Submission of online examination form
4. Printing of examination form

Financial Inclusion

Financial services include banking, insurance, and pension-related services which are provided to the citizens of rural areas. Let us have a look at its benefits:

1. Banking -  There are many banking-related services available, including borrower credit facilities, the Kisan Credit Card, retail loans, overdrafts, recurring deposit accounts, account statements, balance inquiries, cash withdrawals, deposits, etc. Can be watched over by CSC. In rural areas, 42 regional banks from the public and commercial sectors have cooperated with CSC.
2. Insurance - CSC also provides insurance products and services through VLE. The insurance services offered by CSC are vehicle insurance, agricultural insurance, health insurance, and life insurance.
3. Pension - CSC brings up the National Pension Systems in semi-urban and rural areas across India by Opening Tier-1 and Tier-2 accounts and deposit contributions.

Other Services

The following are the other types of services offered by CSC:

1. Income Tax Filing - Income tax is filled through CSC. The manual is accessible in Hindi and English for VLE.
2. Recruitment - Recruitment notifications will be provided for Indian Air Force, Indian Army, and Indian Navy.
3. Agriculture - This type of service is accessed by farmers. They provide certain details about soil, crops, weather updates, or seeds.

CSC (Common Service Centers) Government to Citizen Services

One of the key aspects of the CSC plan is the Government to Citizen (G2C) services. Through this project, the G2C services of several Central Government agencies and ministries were made available to citizens in remote and rural areas of the nation via the Digital Seva portal. 

FASTag through the CSC Network

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in India oversees the electronic toll collection system known as FASTag. The simple-to-use FASTag rechargeable tag allows drivers to pay tolls instantly and guarantees a hassle-free drive without the need to wait for a real cash transaction. The FASTag, which will be mounted to the windscreen of your vehicle, makes use of RFID technology.

In order to distribute FASTags via the CSC network, CSC collaborated with NHAI. VLEs will offer FASTags at toll booths and register the information of the clients on a web portal after obtaining the data through the Digital Seva Portal. The tag will be affixed to their vehicles' windscreens after it has been enabled. 

CSC partnered with NHAI to provide FASTags through the CSC network. After acquiring the data through the Digital Seva Portal, VLEs will provide FASTags at toll plazas and register the details of the customers on a web portal. Once the tag is activated, it will be attached to the windscreen of their vehicles.

Bharat Bill Pay

Bharat Bill Pay helps its users to pay through Digital Seva Portal. Users can bill for different categories like water, gas, DTH, broadband, landline, mobile, and electricity bill. This unified ecosystem brings online payment platforms, banks and non-banks under a single roof.

The following are the two main partners of Bharat Bill Pay:

1. Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) set up onboard platforms, billers, and payments gateways, and develop consumer touchpoints and network agents to manage bill payments through various distribution networks such as digital, manual, and self-service methods.
2. Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) helps in implementing technical, financial, and business needs for the entire infrastructure. BBPCU is operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Passport Services

In 2014, the Ministry of External Affairs partnered with CSC SPV to introduce Passport Seva services in rural areas through CSCs. Once customers fill out the passport application forms online, they will receive a notification to visit their nearest Passport Kendra on a particular date for further processes

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a great initiative taken by the Government of India in the year 21014 to clean the roads, highways, public places and rivers of India. The Ministry of Urban Development partnered with CSC for promoting digital applications by CSCs for building personal toilets in rural areas across the country.

PAN Card

New PAN card applications are handled by CSC in collaboration with National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), and UTI Infrastructure Technology And Services Limited (UTIITSL). PAN card services were introduced for CSCs in February 2016.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

PMAY is a housing development scheme launched by the Government of India to build houses for the economically backward class. Although the scheme is for the entire urban region of the country, the primary goal of this scheme is to provide housing facilities to 500 selected cities.

Soil Health Card

Soil Health Card is issued to the farmers by the government through pesticides and fertilizers recommendations needed for particular farms to help them increase their production. The scheme was launched by the government in 2015 with the aim to issue soil health cards to 14 crore farmers in the nation.

FSSAI

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) partnered with CSC SPV in July 2016 with an aim to provide registration services to the Food Business Operators (FBOs) through CSC. Under this scheme, a Registration Certificate is created for the applicants after online form submission.

e-District

By implementing services including permits, certificates, online RTI filing, bill payments, distribution of social welfare pensions, ration cards, and permissions, the e-District program aims to increase the accessibility of G2C interactions for district residents. Currently, the Digital Seva Portal is accessible in 11 states and three Union Territories (UTs). West Bengal, Puducherry, Punjab, Odisha, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Uttarakhand, and Tripura are the states and UTs that make up this group.

Election Commission Services

For the purpose of enhancing enrollment and addressing data inaccuracies in voting registers, the Election Commission of India has partnered with CSC SPV to provide a variety of electoral registration forms. Through the Digital Seva platform, this service is currently available to residents of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Tripura, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Jharkhand.

CSC Business to Citizen Services

B2C services relate to the way of selling products and services between clients and businesses. Thus, the CSC initiative allows you to make payments to purchase services via Digital Seva Portal.

Mobile Bill Payments

Mobile Bill payments of telecom companies can be rendered through the Digital Seva portal. The service enables the telecom service providers to help consumers in making bill payments on a real-time basis.

Mobile Recharge

Mobile recharge can now be done through CSC Digital Seva Portal. The consumers can make the payments through an e-wallet present in the portal.

DTH Service

DTH recharge can be done through the Digital Seva Portal of all major DTH operators.

Conclusion

When one obtains free and accurate information about government schemes, eligibility and application procedures that have been in place for a long time, it becomes possible to carry out Section 4 of the Right to Information Act's mandate.