Ahmedabad, 14 February 2014

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today urged the Information Technology (IT) sector to play a role of a “Change Agent” and create a brand name “Digital India” of the country in the world.

Mr Modi was addressing 1400 delegates, through a video conference, who were attending the silver jubilee function of National Association of Software & Service Companies, popularly known as ‘NASSCOM’, held at its head-quarter in Mumbai. These delegates have come from as many as 23 countries of the world.The chief minister said that the through use of information technology the IT sector can play a pivotal role in “binding, connecting, and harmonizing the people of India.” IT can play a bridging role between government and people, he further added.

“IT sector can be the Growth Engine of this New India. My vision is that by that time, India should become ‘Digital India’. We must be a knowledge based society and economy”, Mr Modi said.

Mr Modi further stated that the software industry can impart precious knowledge to the billions of Indians and could help the governments – central and states — in monitoring “what is critical for the nation and people!”

Mr Modi said, “We are one of the youngest nations in the world. Nearly 65% of our population is below the age of 35 years. Just imagine the energy and the potential of this Talent Pool. It can write a new history for our Nation, in fact for the whole world. We just need to empower our youths with skills so that they can ensure their own development and growth of India. NASSCOM can play a very big role in this process. Our IT industry and the IT manpower have enhanced the image of the country in the world. Now, it is high time that the IT revolution takes place in India.

NASSCOM, as the leader of the Industry and also as its CSR activity, should engage actively in this process. India has all the basics available. The India has over 85-Crore mobile phones in the country. Almost one fourth of the population is already connected with internet. However, most of them don’t have the necessary applications or knowledge which can help them in their day-to-day life. If you make IT work in people’s lives, the market size of your industry goes up automatically. To start this process, training in the field of ICT is a major requirement. In Gujarat, we have launched a programme called “Empower” for this purpose, Mr Modi pointed out.

“Good Governance has become a very heavy subject today. People don’t know how to get the information and services. The road to grievance redressle is quite unknown. We don’t know the relation between outlay, output and outcome. We don’t know how to track a child for his education or health. Unfortunately, we have leaders who, instead of bringing solutions, are further confusing the issues,” he lamented.

“We have been talking of the Digital Divide. What does it mean? Is it relevant only for seminars and conferences? To my mind, Digital Divide means that what a person can get through IT in a city is not available to the person in a remote village,” he said in a describing tone.

“I will again say that for this, the hardware is not so much responsible as is software. Why can’t the parents get information of their children dropping out from a school? It comes to their knowledge after six months. We can make it happen instantly. Similarly, in health sector a pregnant woman can be alerted through SMS about the necessary periodical check- up,” Mr Modi pointed.

Talking about the initiatives his government has taken, Mr Modi said, “In Gujarat, we have found ways to partly bridge this digital divide. Our 14,000 e-Gram Centres provide a basket of services to the rural citizens. Our One day Governance centres give the experience of a VISA office. You deposit the documents in the morning and get the certificates by evening. We are using IT for delivering value in areas like education, health-care, Public Distribution System and agriculture.”

Social Media can be used effectively to ensure that every citizen is engaged in policy making. That he is duly heard and responded to. NASSCOM and the Indian IT industry have taken some leaps which are noteworthy. The recent one is the Green IT Initiative.

Touching the usages of the IT in protecting the nation’s security and citizens’ economical and social safety, Gujarat Chief Minister said, “Today, security has become an equally important issue. Those who don’t know IT, they don’t know its security hazards. But those who know, they know that Cyber security is a very important matter. We are living in a time where wars will be fought in the Cyber Space. Your pocket will be picked through the cyber mediums. Your homes may be broken through this medium. We have to work on this.”

“Some of your questions relate to Manufacturing in electronics. This is very important. Already our electronics imports are a big share in the import basket. In a few years from now, it is estimated that their import bill will become bigger than oil and gas. The hunger for electronics goods is going up. Thus, you can understand the challenge. We must focus on manufacturing,” Mr Modi added.