Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today inaugurated a Rural Service Centre developed by telecom infrastructure company Viom Networks, aimed at bridging the digital divide, enhancing literacy in rural India, and driving the agenda of financial inclusion.

The centre is set up at village Badshahpur in Gurgaon that will leverage the existing infrastructure through PPP model to achieve the government's vision of providing universal education, financial inclusion, and other related services to the rural population, the company said in a statement.

"I strongly believe the telecom infrastructure sector offers a tremendous untapped potential that can be leveraged to enhance various government programmes and initiatives in rural India," Sibal said.

The Rural Service Centre is aimed at offering a range of services which includes education for all - e-Education, primary and vocational classrooms, universal healthcare - vaccine storage, telemedicine leveraging telecom services, financial inclusion through ATM services.

"Through these centres we aim to partner with the government to achieve their vision of bridging the digital divide through a range of telecom services, thus contributing to the government's vision of Bharat Nirman," Viom Networks CEO Arun Kapur said.

The available site premises will be used for offering a range of additional services such as mobile charging and recharging points, rural cyber cafes as an entrepreneurial opportunity to local youth, the statement added.

It will also offer other value added services such as utility payments (power, water, telecom bills), function as Business Correspondent (BC) to raise deposits, disburse tiny loans, it said.

The real estate and other assets can be extended to other government and private initiatives based on opportunities, it said.