Ranchi: Koderma is inching towards becoming a free Wi-Fi zone.

Koderma MLA and state education minister Neera Yadav and agriculture minister Randhir Singh on Wednesday laid the foundation stones of towers at five locations in the urban areas of the district.

The Koderma Nagar Panchayat has inked an MoU with BSNL under which Wi-Fi services will initially be provided free of cost to all users availing BSNL services. Later the service provider and the Nagar Panchayat will work out a fee that the users will have to pay after a certain duration.

"The railways too charge a certain amount after 30 minutes of Wi-Fi use. The same may be done here also. The telephone number will be the login ID and an OTP will be generated to enable the users avail smooth internet connectivity," a senior officer involved with the project said. He said Rs 6,72,600 would be spent per annum on the installation and maintenance of each tower.

DC Bhuvnesh Pratap Singh feels free internet and cashless transactions will motivate commoners to avail the benefits of various welfare and development schemes.

The web page displaying the status of various welfare and development schemes being run in the district will appear on the device's screen soon after a user logs in.

"The idea is to encourage even a rickshaw puller to use the Bhim App. This project will also eliminate discrepancies in database. The applicants will be directly able to monitor the status of their demand/complaint. It is going to bring out great changes in transparent functioning of the official machinery through e-governance," Singh said.

He said the project was expected to become functional within 10 days and CM Raghubar Das would be requested to lead the inaugural celebrations on August 20.

"Koderma Nagar Panchayat is the first urban local body in the state to initiate such a move," the DC said.

Koderma is also Jharkhand's first district to be declared open-defecation free.