Sanjay Gupta
Digital India Week was launched by the Prime Minister on 01st of July 2015 from Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium Delhi. This historical launch was witnessed live by few district HQ and gram panchayats of the country through video conferencing as well as through live webcast from the vent location. District Jammu was the only district in J&K state to participate in this historical event through video conferencing with participants from some educational institutions
The basic mantra of launching this Digital India Programme by Prime Minister is IT+IT=IT i.e. India Talent+Information Technology=India Tomorrow and also bridging the digital divide.Digital India week has been celebrated throughout the country from 1st July 2015 to 7th July 2015 with an objective to showcase their local digital initiatives as well as promoting major initiatives from Government of India.
Just few moments before the onset of the formal launch programme, all eGovernance initiativesfrom Department of Electronics& Information Technology, Government of Indiaas well as main objectives of Digital Indiawere showcased in detail. Digital Identity i.e. Aadhaar enrollment, Digital Locker (Paperless Services), eSign, ePraman, eAadhar Based Attendance System, e-Hospital, e-Scholarship, MyGov, Financial & Digital Inclusion were some of the initiatives showcased to the participants. Under Digital India programme Internet Reach, Broadband Highways, IT Jobs, Electronics Manufacturing, eGovernance, eKranti, Wi MAX were highlighted.
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Minister for IT, Minister for Financeand eminent industry leaders emphasized the necessity of Digital India programme for transforming India into a digital empowered society as well as knowledge economy. Prime Minister laid the importance of Digital Indian in creation of Jobs in this industry for the youth and also stressed upon the importance of Make in India for electronics and IT industry for reducing the imports in the county and also make high class IT products in the country itself. Cyber war was also one of the prime concern of the Prime Minister for which he stressed upon utmost security of the Digital World.He also invited the youth to showcase their talent in bring up Digital India and also to share their ideas on MyGov for building a digital economy. Importance of NOFN in the near future and Post Offices Network and making themMulti Service Centres was also highlighted by PM.
Importance of National Informatics Centre and other core organizations in bringing up this mega event was also highlighted during the launch. Eminent industry leaders had no hitch to say that they are now feeling that Government is moving faster than Industry and also proposed their investment plans in bringing up Digital India and making its reach to every citizen of the country.
It is pertinent to mention here that Digital India is an initiative from Government of India to integrate the government departments and the people of India to provide eServices to the citizens in friendly and transparent manner with prime objective to digitally empower citizens. It aims at ensuring the government services are made available to citizens electronically by reducing paperwork. The initiative also includes plan to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks. Digital India has three core components. These include the creation of digital infrastructure, delivering services digitally, and digital literacy. Digital India is a Programme to prepare India for a knowledge future and bridging the digital divide.
The impact of Digital India can be foreseen from the fact that by 2019, Government expects the follows:
* Broadband in 2.5 lakh villages, universal phone connectivity
* Net Zero Imports by 2020
* 400,000 Public Internet Access Points
* Wi-fi in 2.5 lakh schools, all universities; Public wi-fi hotspots for citizens
* Digital Inclusion: 1.7 Cr trained for IT, Telecom and Electronics Jobs
* Job creation: Direct 1.7 Cr. and Indirect at least 8.5 Cr.
* e-Governance & eServices: Across Government
* India to be leader in IT use in services – health, education, banking
* Digitally empowered citizens – public cloud, internet access
In the state of Jammu and Kashmir also, this event has been organized & celebrated by all the districts of the state withthe active involvement of District Administration and District Informatics Officers of NIC. Educational institutions also played a very vital role in successful conduct of Digital India Programme. All the districts of the state have launched their local initiatives and also highlighted the ongoing eGovernance initiatives going on in their respective locations. A state level event was also held at SKICC Srinagar on 2nd of July 2015 with active participation of Information Technology Department of State Government and NIC.
In a unique initiative in J&K during Digital Indian week, a debate / symposium was also organized over video conferencing between District Jammu and District Reasi. Deputy Commissioner Jammu and Deputy Commissioner Reasi presided over the session. Students from various educational institutions from District Jammu and Reasi participated in the VC session. Deputy Commissioner Jammu and Reasi were the jury members in the session and five participants each from Jammu and Reasi spoke in length about Digital Indian Programme launched in country by PM.
(The author is District Informatics Officer / HOD NIC District Centre Jammu)
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