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Centre to boost digital expansion in State

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 30 - The Centre will introduce a slew of measures in the State within the next few months with a view to giving a boost to digital expansion in Assam.

Union Minister for Information Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad announced this in the presence of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal while taking part in a review meeting of IT and legislative department held here today.

Stating that the Northeast is a priority region in the digital vision of the Prime Minister, Prasad said the Union Ministry of Electronics & IT will set up a comprehensive mega electronic systems design and manufacturing cluster as one stop destination for IT and manufacturing industries investing in Assam.

This cluster would be set up in Guwahati in a campus spanning around 200 acres for which land would be provided by the State government. Prasad requested the State government to submit a structured proposal to the Centre in this regard.

Prasad also announced a plan for starting �e-hospital� project in six major hospitals of Assam with a view to introducing digital inclusion in health care. Along with Guwahati, the e-hospital project will cover one major hospital each in Dibrugarh, Silchar, Barpeta, Tezpur and Jorhat, which will facilitate online registration of patients with doctors.

He said the IT Ministry will also lend its support in making the State Data Centre functional within next four months. �A 10,000-sq ft building has already been constructed for the centre and with infrastructural support from the Union Ministry it would be made operational,� he said.

Prasad said with a view to providing new job opportunities for the youths of the State, three BPO call centres will be set up � one each in Nagaon, Jorhat and Majuli. �Along with five functional BPO call centres in Guwahati which have a seat capacity of 710, a provision of 1,800 seats have been fixed for Assam,� Prasad said.

He said that Assam and the Northeast have vast potential in the BPO sector and requested Sonowal to hold a conference of IT professionals for a collective move in this regard.

Prasad said the Centre will cover all the uncovered gaon panchayats by expanding the network of common service centres (CSCs) in a bid to strengthening the movement of digital delivery of government services. �Presently, 2,735 CSCs are operational in Assam, covering 200 digital services. Another 1,000 new CSCs would come up in next six months in the State,� he said.

Advocating a mega vision for the inclusion of the Northeast in the digital movement of the country, Prasad said that the IT Ministry is in the process of launching �North-East Digital Vision 2022� and a road map for this will be prepared by his ministry in consultation with the state governments and other stakeholders.

He also stressed on expediting implementation of digital literacy programme under the National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) in the State. Prasad advised the State government to look out for new franchisees for implementing the mission.

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