NEW DELHI: It was a year of great challenges for the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology (MeitY) to align itself with the two big USPs of the Union Government — Digital India and Make in India — aimed at providing smart Governance.
And the list of accomplishments at the end of year-2017 substantially proves, the ministry (MeitY) concerned to take forward the government’s flagships programmes, succeeded in carrying up the task effectively.
With socio-political and economic dynamics of the country taking new turn post-demonetisation, there were challenges to maintain the pace of execution of different schemes associated with e-governance agenda of the Government and also to chalk out new plans emerging from the changing dynamics.
And on both the fronts the ministry stood tall. According to official figures there are at least four counts where MeitY excelled. It included investment in electronic manufacturing, which grew by 27 per cent in 2017, registered over 300 per cent growth in digital transaction during this period, coverage of over 99 per cent adult residents of the country under Aadhaar and placing of over 197-crore documents in DigiLocker.
The flagship project of the Government, Digital India made rapid progress in the year 2017. MeitY, as a key ministry and the enabler of Digital India programme, undertook numerous initiatives in the area of Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) and electronic manufacturing that put India on the global map and went on to become case studies for the reputed Universities across the globe.
Digital India comprises of various initiatives under the single programme each targeted to prepare India for becoming a knowledge economy and for bringing good governance to citizens through synchronized and co-ordinated engagement of the entire Government. Envisaged and coordinated by the MeitY in collaboration with various Central Ministries and Departments and State Governments,all the existing and ongoing e-Governance initiatives have been revamped to align them with the principles of Digital India.
Having covered over 99 per cent of the adult population of the country through the unique identity Aadhaar, the country is now looking at embracing the second phase of Digital India.
The year saw a 27 per cent jump in the investment on electronic manufacturing where the total volume of investment reached 1.57-lakh-crore in 2017 against 1.43-lakh-crore in 2016. It was only 11,000-crore in 2014.
There has been almost 60 per cent rise on the production of mobile phones to reach 17.5 crore units against 11 crore units last year, adding 4-lakh direct and indirect jobs in the sector; this was only 6-crore units in 2014-15.
Digital transactions witnessed a growth of over 300% during this year. In 2017, the Government introduced many pro-people IT initiatives that transformed the governance system for good.
Some of the key initiatives that were pushed forward included India BPO Promotion Scheme, Software Procurement Policy for faster delivery and effective monitoring of services, Tele-Law through CSCs to Mainstream Legal Aid in Rural India, amongst others.
The CSCs (Common Services Centers) have been effectively used to reach out to the last miles and bridge the gaps between urban and rural sector, between digital haves and have-nots.
There has been a significant growth in various forms of digital payment due to initiatives taken by the government in the aftermath of demonetisation.
While launching a slew of e-Gov-centric schemes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, “The Government’s job is good governance for everybody. My Government will make policies; if you fit into it, come on board, or stay where you are.
My job is not to spoon-feed anyone.” Thankfully, the Meity took the arduous task of imbuing Modi’s spirits to the people across the country by successfully implementing e-Gov schemes during this period. (AGENCIES)
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