SHILLONG, June 18 � The Central Government has sanctioned Rs 388 crore as a special package to train about 14,000 youths from the North East in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) from this year, besides other projects to boost the IT sector in the region.
Union Minister of State for Communication and Information and Technology Sachin Pilot said here today that the special package would ensure the availability of trained professionals in the region which would attract IT Industry to set up their units here.
�The Union Government is focusing on all-round economic development of the North East and ICT would play a key role in this regard,� Pilot said after a consultative meeting with IT Ministers and secretaries of the Northeastern States.
Out of the total amount, Rs 63.35 crore would be spent for training of 14,000 youth this year. The Minister said that the scheme will be implemented through the National Institute of E-Learning & Information Technology (NIELIT).
The six existing NIELIT centres located at Imphal, Aizawl, Guwahati, Shillong, Gangtok and Itanagar would be upgraded under the sanctioned package. Moreover, ten new extension centres would be set up at Senapati and Churachandpur in Manipur; Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat and Kokrajhar in Assam; Lunglei in Mizoram; Tura in Meghalaya; Tezu and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. The two existing extension centres located at Chuchuyimlang in Nagaland and Tezpur in Assam would also be upgraded.
Emphasising the importance of connectivity, Pilot said �an ambitious plan� is being considered by the Central Government for the North East. Nonetheless, Pilot said that the total expenditure of Department of IT in the Northeastern States is estimated to be Rs 243 crore this year. Of this, Rs 190 crore has been earmarked for
e-Governance.
He added that BSNL is planning a capital expenditure of Rs 347 crores in the Northeastern States this year out of which Rs 92.18 crore is earmarked for Assam, Rs 33.86 crore for NE-1 Circle and Rs 68.07 crore for NE-2 Circle.
In addition, about Rs 300 crore will be spent on National Optical Fibre Network and other projects, Pilot said.
