Centre To Install 25k Towers For Better Connectivity: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The Central government has approved INR 36,000 crore to install new 25,000 towers in next 500 days for the better connectivity as it is vital for the Digital India and its reach to every corner of the country, Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The minister was addressing the concluding session of three-day long “Digital India Conference of State IT Ministers” that began on October 1, 2022. The event was graced by Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Minister of state for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan and IT Ministers from 12 States and UTs, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Puducherry.

During the event, the detailed discussions on key priority areas of Digital India initiatives were held with States and Union Territories under the chairmanship of the Minister for Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw. He congratulated all States and UTs for their speedy on-boarding at PM Gati Shakti.

He also shared that the special assistance to States for capital expenditure worth INR 2000 crore has been supported. The minister encouraged the states to be proactive and make business friendly policies to attract businesses in their States. Emphasizing on the motto of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas, he stated that the commitments from all States and UTs, large as well as small States, are vital in taking Digital India to higher level and in realizing the AatmaNirbhar Bharat and Trillion Dollar Digital Economy.

MeitY had also organised three sessions on important aspects like ‘IT Rules, Online Gaming and Data Governance’, ‘Digital India Bhashini & Digital Payment’, and ‘MyScheme and Meri Pehchaan’. The demo on eligibility or profile-based service discovery at MyScheme was shown. In the concluding remarks, the Secretary, MeitY, Alkesh Kumar Sharma encouraged the States and UTs to align their policies in sync with the policies published and in-making by the Central Government. He also said that States and UTs should leverage the latest initiatives of Central government for improving the citizen centric and business centric services, resulting in further ease of living and ease of doing business.

It organised five panel discussions titled ‘Attracting Start-ups to Tier 2 Cities and Sustaining Them’, ‘Use of Emerging Tech in Public Services’, ‘Making India Talent Nation’, ‘Realisation of Digital Government in States’, and ‘Make-in-India for the Globe – India as Semiconductor Nation’.

Sharma said that government is committed to promote technology start-ups beyond tier-1 cities. He emphasized on collaboration, start-up friendly policies and incentives at state level for creating a thriving start-up ecosystem.

He mentioned that ‘Digital By Default’ approach and principles of Presence-less, Contact-less, Paperless, Anytime, Anywhere and Invite less services are vital to improve and deliver personalised and proactive services. He said that a big opportunity is to be tapped in terms of establishing semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in the country and thereby generate employment and accelerate value addition to digital economy.