All panchayats to get broadband links in 3 years: Minister

New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) All nearly 2.5 lakh village panchayats in the country will be provided broadband connectivity in three years, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Tuesday.

Talking to reporters here, Prasad said 50,000 village panchayats will be provided broadband connections in the current financial year.

"Another one lakh will get in 2015-16 and the rest in 2016-17. All the village panchayats will be connected to broadband by the end of financial year 2016-17," the minister said.