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The high powered working committee on ‘Improving PC penetration, internet and domestic software’ in the country, set up by Ministry of Communications & IT, submitted its report to the Shri Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister for Communications and IT here today. The committee comprising senior Government Officials and leaders from the IT industry included among others, Shri M M Nambiar, Additional Secretary, Department of IT; Shri Pankaj Aggrawala, Joint Secretary, Department of IT; Shri Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems; Shri R Ramraj, M D & CEO, Sify; Shri Kiran Karnik, President NASSCOM, Shri R S Pawar, Chairman NIIT Ltd., and Shri Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director MAIT. Set up on January 11, 2005, the committee, after numerous deliberations and detailed contributions from several eminent professionals in Government, IT industry, academia and the media, worked for over 3 months to finalise its report.
The committee has delineated a vision for India, which encompasses to increase the pace of IT penetration in the country and achieve the levels prevailing in China, in the next three to four years. India, by 2008, should achieve a PC penetration of 65 per 1,000 from the existing 14 per 1,000; internet penetration of 40 per 1,000 from existing 5 per 1,000 (number of subscribers); the domestic software industry, including the local language applications and content industry, to grow seven-fold from existing about USD 4 billion (Rs. 1,900 crore) to USD 28 billion (Rs.13,300 crore); all villages to be made online for agricultural, healthcare and education services; and IT should contribute significantly to the growth of the national GDP.
The report with an objective of increasing the IT penetration in India by creating an environment that encourages the domestic development of the entire IT virtuous cycle and eventually leading to attracting investments in IT manufacturing, has recommended launch of several mission mode projects such as IT enabled teaching and IT teaching in education; IT deployment for economic development in rural India; Telemedicine; affordable computing for homes and SMBs; e-governance; joint industry-government IT usage promotion program and a roadmap for attracting IT manufacturing investments in the country eventually leading to not only a vibrant domestic manufacturing industry but also substantial exports. The report stresses on the urgent need to implement the recommendations and the mission mode projects, as they are critical not only for national development, but also essential to reach the target levels of IT penetration in the country. Also, the recommendations are interlinked and the desired multiplier affect can be had only once these are implemented in totality, in a synchronised fashion.
Commenting on the report, Shri Dayanidhi Maran said, “ The report of the Committee is very timely and aligned with the National objectives set in the National Common Minimum program (NCMP) of the Government. As the UPA Government comes to the end of its first very successful year, I am glad that the Ministry of Communications & IT has already several notable achievements. This report will provide our Ministry with the necessary direction for the ensuing period and help us in achieving the 10-point agenda that I had outlined in the beginning of my term. Improved IT usage and IT production will be critical to our national economic development. The mission mode projects identified in the report and also the models for low cost computing, especially for the homes, education sector and the Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) are the need of the hour. These will be examined and necessary steps will be taken to implement them. The Government looks forward to working closely with the industry to fulfil the identified deliverables. ”
Click here for the executive summary of the recommendations
RM/AMA
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