Digitizing J&K will go a long way to establish eGovernance in the state
Jammu, July 01: As they say ‘small steps lead to big changes’ and in Jammu and Kashmir we need numerous such small steps in every sphere to make a big change in this trouble torn state which otherwise was known as ‘Paradise on Earth’.
J&K being a geographically diverse state comprising of three major regions with many more sub regions lacking in fast connectivity and communication facilities hampering the development of the state due to delay in deliverance of the administrative initiatives particularly in remote areas and villages needs a digital revolution that can remove the communication bottle necks and administrative lethargy and bring transparency to make the lives of the people easier.
A little news item hidden inside the columns of the newspapers if read in correct perspective and followed in letter and spirit by the government can surely prove that little step which can led to big changes in the state to take it to the modern system of justice deliverance and administrative reforms.
According to the news item the Department of Information and Technology is all set to roll out National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) in Jammu and Kashmir to achieve hundred percent digital literacy and what the Secretary Information & Technology Saurabh Bhagat describes as the goal of ‘Digital J&K’.
The programme would be rolled out through Common Service Centers (CSCs) and other training partners to impart training to 55,000 persons in five selected blocks of Anantnag, Baramulla, Pulwama, Shopain, and Doda districts in the first phase.
The main objective of the programme is to declare blocks selected under it 100 per cent digitally literate in which Anganwadi workers, Supervisors of Social Welfare Department, workers and fair price shop owners and dealers are also being covered under the programme. Skill development of youth would be taken so that they can set up their own entrepreneurial units and contribute their bit in eGovernance, Bhagat informs.
Well! This is very small and routine news but one is reminded of similar small steps taken with sincerity that led to Indian’s digitization bringing a complete technological revolution in India.
It was in 1980’s when Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda popularly known as Sam Pitroda a telecom engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and policymaker joined Rajiv Gandhi as his Advisor Technology Missions and launched Center for the Development of Telematics (C-DOT) that the first small step was taken towards digital awareness in India particularly regarding telecommunication and computerization.
Even though the step was small but the awareness and dedication at the government level was not enough to make it a rapid growing sector even as it brought a new change and thinking among the entrepreneurs and common people alike.
The major revolution that changed India what it is today was during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government when the New Telecom Policy (NTP) was announced on 3 March 1999 which led to massive growth of the digital sector in India particularly communication catapulting the telecom penetration rate from less than 3% in 1999 to over 70% as of October 2012 and fast closing in on developed world standards.
Since the first small step was taken the big changes took some time to emerge but the fact is that had Pitroda not influenced the government to take that small step India might have lagged behind in telecommunication and digital revolution that is taking place in the world.
Similarly with the new dispensation at the helm of affairs and a person like Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking keen interest in bringing the state of Jammu and Kashmir out of morass this small step if taken sincerely and followed up with more rapid expansion can bring a digital revolution in J&K that would brighten the prospectus of the state to compete at the national and international levels.
This state having enough talent needs to be digitized with sincerity and if the goal set by the Information Technology department of a Digital J&K is achieved it will go a long way in implementing much awaited egovernance programme in the state.
Even though J&K does not have a Sam Pitroda but our farsighted young bureaucrats and politicians can play a vital role in promoting this state as a model state in digitization for the rest of India.
As they say every change starts in a small step, let’s make that small step together and contribute our bit. (The article is being repeated to commemorate Digital India Week celebrations)