On the first day, detailed discussions on key priority areas of Digital India initiatives were held with States and Union Territories chaired by Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Railways Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw. She was felicitated by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Minister of State for Communications Shri Devusinh Chauhan and IT Ministers of 12 States and UTs namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh. , Gujarat, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Mizoram, Sikkim and Puducherry.
In his concluding remarks, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw said that connectivity is vital for Digital India and its reach to every corner of the country. He announced that Rs 26,000 crore has been approved to install 25,000 new towers in the next 500 days. He congratulated all states and UTs for their speedy on-boarding of PM Gati Shakti. He also shared that special assistance to states for capital expenditure worth Rs 2000 crore has been supported. He urged states to be proactive and create business-friendly policies to attract businesses in their states. Emphasizing the motto of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas, he said that the commitment of all states and UTs, big and small, is essential to take Digital India to the next level and realize AatmaNirbhar Bharat and a trillion dollar digital economy.
Second day i.e. Eligibility/Profile of services on MyScheme was shown. In the concluding remarks, MeitY Secretary Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma urged the States and UTs to align their policies in line with the policies published and prepared by the Central Government. He also said that the states and UTs should take advantage of the latest initiatives of the central government to improve citizen and business oriented services, which will lead to further ease of life and ease of doing business.
On the third day, MeitY organized five panel discussions titled “Attracting and Retaining Startups to Tier 2 Cities”, “Using Emerging Technologies in Public Services”, “Making India a Talented Nation”, “Realizing Digital Government in States” and “Make -in-India for the Globe – India as Semiconductor Nation”. Keynote speakers included Shri Rohan Verma, CEO, MapMyIndia, Shri Prakash Kumar, CEO, Wadhwani, Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, Shri Tanmoy Chakravarty, Senior Government Affairs Officer, Tata Sons and Shri Santhosh Kumar, MD, Texas Instruments. The panel discussion was moderated by senior officers from MeitY and the panel consisted of senior officers of state governments.
In the concluding remarks, Secretary, MeitY, Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma congratulated all the States and UTs for sharing the latest progress of Digital India initiatives in their States. He also appreciated the contributions of the industry representative for sharing industry perspectives and global best practices. He said the Government of India is committed to supporting tech startups outside tier 1 cities. He highlighted collaboration, startup-friendly policies and state-level incentives to create a thriving startup ecosystem.
For emerging technologies, he highlighted data-driven decision-making and data-driven innovation and processes using AI, Blockchain, Drone, IoT, etc. He said that India is the destination of first choice for acquiring highly skilled resources at a competitive cost. Team India – Government, Industry and Academia should work together to continuously train/retrain the youth and deep tech professionals to be future ready and make India a Talent Nation. He mentioned that the “Digital By Default” approach and principles of presenceless, contactless, paperless, anytime, anywhere and invitation-less services are essential to improve and deliver personalized and proactive services.
He said there is a big opportunity to tap in terms of creating a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in the country, thereby creating employment and accelerating value addition to the digital economy. He also mentioned that besides the incentives announced by the central government, friendly policies at the state level and financial incentives will be the main force to attract companies that will generate jobs and income. The conference concluded with vote of thanks by Shri Shushila Pal, Joint Secretary, MeitY.
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