OREANDA-NEWS. The Minister for Communications & IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that seven and half lakh kilometres of cable is proposed to be laid over next three and half years to provide broadband in every village of the country. Interacting with a few contributors of ideas for ‘Digital India’ project in New Delhi last evening, he said this project aims at digital empowerment of people and will be a game changer. The minister pointed out that there is a need to sensitise people about the power of technology. He said various certificates as needed by poor people can be reached to them in their villages itself. Various other practical benefits will also be available to them through internet which might be global but will have to be locally of benefit. He said, India now has about 30 crore internet users and is crossing the number of internet users even in the US which is the second largest internet users in the world now after China.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said electronic manufacturing is also sought to be promoted in a big way in the country. He pointed out that while in urban India mobile connectivity is 146% , it is only about 46% in rural areas. Such an urban- rural divide is sought to be bridged now the minister said.

He complimented all the contributors of ideas towards various themes on MyGov, a cherished Internet-based platform for citizen engagement, launched by the Prime Minister on July 26, 2014. It is a one-of-its-kind interactive platform that solicits ideas, views and suggestions from citizens, irrespective of their location. The innovative platform allows people from all walks of life to participate in policy formulation and execution, as well as share their perceptions directly with the Prime Minister of India. The main objective of MyGov, with over six lakh registered users, is to establish a link between citizens and government. Its aim is to empower people for contributing towards Surajya. Over the past four months since its launch, the citizen engagement platform, MyGov has witnessed over 6,55,000 registrations. More users are getting added to the platform at the rate of about four users for every minute.

There are 19 groups for seeking ideas on different specific subjects. Digital India is one such group created by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for people to come out with innovative ideas and practical solutions to realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of a digital India. Over 1,70,000 members are part of the “Digital India” group on MyGov. Prime Minister Modi envisions transforming our nation to create opportunities for all citizens by harnessing digital technologies. His vision is to empower every citizen with access to digital services, knowledge and information.

Digital India group has been receiving innumerable responses to tasks, discussions and contests from people across India as well as from NRIs. These responses are being analysed and most relevant ideas and suggestions are being sent on a regular basis to the Ministry of Communications and IT.

“MyGov Samvaad”, is an event, first of its kind that was organized yesterday and the Minister for Communications & IT and Law & Justice Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad had interacted with some contributors for their constructive inputs to MyGov on the theme of ‘Digital India’. The minister also felicitated 20 chosen contributors for their best ideas/suggestions/task responses from out of over 40,000 responses. Most of the contributors are in the age group of 20 to 30 and include an engineering student from the National Institute of Technology, software engineers and also a few government employees. These ideas among others will be taken up by the Ministry of Communications and IT for further consideration for their possible implementation.

MyGov Samvaad is all about honouring the citizens for their contribution to participative governance as well as for encouraging others to contribute to MyGov and for playing a significant role in the growth of the nation.

Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ram Sewak Sharma, and other senior officials of the ministry also participated in the discussions.