The Indian Minister of the Electronic and Information Technology
Ministry, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Digital India programme has transformed into a
"mass movement”, and the government will soon finalise a new electronic policy to build on the momentum and
continue to encourage digital growth and development in rural India.
Mr Ravi Prasad has said that the
government will be finalising a new electronics policy which will rely, in part, on
export-based initiatives in the electronic field. Essentially, the aim of the
initiative is to develop India into a source of reliable and efficient
electronic products and services to participate in national and international
markets.
Through opportunities in areas like Information
Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services,
e-commerce, electronics manufacturing, digital payments and data security,
India aims to increase the size of its digital economy to US $1 trillion in the next few years.
Mr Ravi Prasad said that with the combination of Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi's People's Wealth Scheme (Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana) making use of around 310,000,000 public fund accounts (JanDhan account), the production and
distribution of about 1,210,000,000 mobiles, and India's biometric identifier (Aadhaar) all pushing
welfare benefits and subsidies, the Ministry has been able to raise a
substantial amount of funds, around IN ₹90,000 crores (approximately US
$13,328,397) for further development. The trio has been named the JanDan-Aadhaar-Mobile
or JAM trinity.
When discussing the progress made by the Ministry of
IT through electronic related initiatives like "DigiGaon", "Digital India", and "Make in India" etc., Mr Ravi Prasad said
that Common Service Centres have risen to 2,91,000 up from 83,000, while 89 BPOs (Business
Process Outsourcing) have started
operating in various states in only two and a half years. This has increased
the number of people in rural areas that have access to digital services, such as banking, e-learning, and healthcare, as well as the number of
services provided to them.
The production of mobile handsets in India has also
grown exponentially, Mr Prasad stated
that almost 120 units manufacturing mobile handsets and components have been
established across the country in the last three years; he added that the
Ministry of IT will capitalise on this progress and intends to concretise the
potential of India's economy to a US $1 trillion economy.
While outlining the digital projects being launched by
the government, including the National Scholarship Portal, Digital Locker, the National Agriculture
Market, and eHospitals among others, Mr Ravi Prasad said that now, everyone has come
to have a stake in the emerging digital ecosystem in India and through these projects gaining access to electronic
services will become easier and more affordable.
He
added that the government sees Digital India as being supported by low-cost
technology that is both developmental and inclusive.