(a) the outlay made for different programmes under ‘Digital India’, programme-wise;
(b) whether a State Information Technology Ministers Conference on ‘Digital India Scheme’ has been organized by Union Government;
(c) if so, the names of the States and UTs who participated and the outcome thereof;
(d) whether the Government propose to create positions of Chief Information Officers in 10 key Ministries/Departments; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a): “Digital India” is an umbrella programme to transform India into digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. There are nine pillars of growth areas under the programme. Each of these pillars is a big programme in itself and cuts across multiple Ministries/ Departments. Digital India programme will pull together many new and existing schemes. The existing schemes will be restructured and re-focused and will be implemented in a synchronized manner. The financial details are being worked out project-wise by the concerned Line Ministries / Departments.
(b): Yes, Sir.
(c): A conference of the IT Ministers & IT Secretaries of States/UTs on “Digital India” was held on 26th August, 2014 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi under the chairmanship of Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India. The conference was attended by 28 states/UTs, namely Andaman and Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
In the conference, the participants from the Centre and States / UTs were informed about the details of the “Digital India” programme. They became aware of the three key vision areas of Digital India, namely “Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen”, “Governance & Services on Demand” and “Digital Empowerment of Citizens”. The nine pillars of growth areas, namely Broadband Highways, Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, E-Governance – Reforming Government Through Technology, e-Kranti – Electronic delivery of services, Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing – Target NET ZERO Imports, IT for Jobs and Early Harvest Programmes were also explained to all the participants. The participants also became aware of key focus areas like electronics manufacturing, National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) and other telecom projects, e-Kranti, Common Services Centre (CSC) 2.0, convergence of network infrastructure, etc.
(d): Yes Sir.
(e): Under the Digital India Programme, the positions of Chief Information Officers (CIO) are proposed to be created in at least 10 key Ministries with clear role definition and line of control so that various e-Governance projects could be designed, developed and implemented faster. CIO positions will be at Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary level in the respective Ministry.