Arvinder Bali
India is in the midst of transformation through programmes like Digital India and Make in India. Digital India is grand idea that will help to build IT enabled society by connecting more than two and half lac Panchayats. Under the mission, the National Optical Fiber network has already covered 85,000 Km fiber connectivity to provide digital services to empower the Rural India. The Digital India programme will be game changer to scale down the poverty and corruption, if it is implemented properly.
In our state the visionary and farsighted initiatives for Digital programmes based on basic services like e – Health, e – Commerce, e-Education, e – Governance for citizens is the essence of urgency. There is an immediate need to open Service centers, where farmers, poor and marginalized people in the state can access to the Government services. The need of the hour is to develop the digital projects that aim to ensure that Government services are available electronically for general public to address the public grievances, public distribution system, employment, scholarship portal for meritorious students to apply for Government funded scholarship schemes, e – Services to farmers with information on advisory, to increase their productivity.Digital literacy in the state focused on Students,Industries, Farmers and Common man will not only empower people to interface with Government but will also help to bring in more efficiency and transparency in Governance. Digital programmes will attract investments in the state that will lead to the creation of thousands of Jobs and connecting rural areas with the mainstream.
The digital empowered society can contribute to the success, development, economic growth and will create knowledge based future in the state. Digital J&K can play a vital role in assessing and controlling the power situation in the state that has been experiencing acute power shortage. As on FY 2015-16,The purchase power liability on the state is estimated to be more than 6,775 crores, and AT&C (T&D/Commercial) losses are projected up to 56 % causing huge financial burden on the state economy. The most worrying part is that there are more than 100 villages and 3.6 Lac households which are still un electrified. The power deficit in the State is approximated to be 4200 MUs which is close to 28% of the power demand. Digital technologies and Smart Grid systems will give the information to the public about SLDC (State Load Dispatch Centre) on real time basis of exactly consumption power region wise, (Jammu, Ladhakh and Kashmir), power purchase from Northern Grid,, Power excess, Power shortages etc and this will be able to implement the
Energy conservation act in a more realistic way that was enacted in the state in 2011.These measures will certainly avoid frequent load shedding and power outages and will bridge the gap between Supply and Demand. It is a gigantic task in the power starved state but after implementing digital technologies will be a different J&K.
In last month the Center published another list of smart cities, to be developed under the Smart Cities Mission but unfortunately again none of the city in the state is figured in the new list. If we had come in the list, would have really reshaped the economic growth and quality of life of people in the state. As per the criteria laid down, The minimum qualifying requirement for the smart cities or those cities has been given preference,who have shown certain examples of doing infrastructure development in the past and the only those cities will be given preference who have shown the capability of being smart in the past.
The other states which have been announced Smart cities will have online information and status on mobile about common services such as water supply, electricity supply, master plan for the area, transport facility, walkways, public information ,grievance, redressals, smart health, smart safety smart security and participative governance It is imperative for the state to address relevant development issues and use resources smartly for the welfare of citizens. These initiatives will reduce regional differences and will develop positive peace for the sustainable development of our motherland J&K.
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