Andhra Pradesh is pioneer to provide 725 e-governance services in rural areas: Union Minister

Visakhapatnam: The two day National Conference on e-Governance concluded in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. The Union Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology and Law, Justice P PChaudhary chaired the valedictory session of the 20th National Conference on e-Governance. Addressing on the occasion, P PChaudhary said that there is a need for bridging the digital divide between the urban and rural areas. He said the Union government promotes research and development and innovative eco-system of Information Technology and also encourages acquisition of the Intellectual Property Rights by Indians.

The Minister further said that Cyber Security is the need of the hour and artificial intelligence will provide solutions to the problem of cyber security. There is also need for development of Nano technology and Nano electronics which helps for imparting value based education based on Mission mode Nano Electronics. India will be in a position to manufacture electronics devices and products in the country very soon, he added.

P PChaudhary also said that Andhra Pradesh is a pioneer in providing 725 e-governance services in rural areas. Government is committed for inclusive development through e- governance and providing several services to the citizens namely ration cards in public distribution system, passports, driving licenses and Voter IDs on the click of a button through mobile phones. The Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India can be achieved through e- governance, he added. The Minister said there is a need for use of technology into making a 3D animation form in various languages and its application in medical, Higher and professional education that would enhance the learning capabilities of the students.  P PChaudhary said the linking of the AADHAAR Cards has helped the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and the beneficiaries get their financial benefits directly to their bank accounts.

On the occasion P P Chaudhary gave away the awards to the winners. National Awards for e-Governance 2016-17 were presented in two types of awards for each category. Out of 20 awards, 09 are Gold and 11 Silver.  Gold Award carries a certificate, citation and cash award of Rs. 2.00 lakhs. Silver Award carries a certificate, citation and cash award of Rs. 1.00 lakh. 

The awards were presented in several categories which includes Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering, Outstanding performance in Citizen-Centric Service Delivery, Innovative Use of Technology in e-Governance, Incremental Innovations in existing projects, Best District level initiative in citizen-centric service delivery through ICT, Innovative use of GIS Technology in e-Governance, Innovative use of mobile technology in e-Governance, Sectoral Award: Digital Transformation towards transforming India, Innovative Use of ICT by Central Government PSUs, Innovative use of ICT by State Government PSUs,Cooperatives,Federations,Societies, Outstanding e-Governance initiative by Academic and Research institutions and Use of ICT for Development by Non-Government Institutions.

Minister of Information, PR, IT, Communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh,  Palle Raghunatha Reddy, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Dr. Kambhampati Hari Babu, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India,  C. Viswanath, Additional Secretary, DARPG, Smt Usha Sharma and other senior officers from the Government of India and various State,Union Territory Governments, technical experts, academicians and representatives of the industry and NGOs participated in the event.