The Digital India 2.0 will take broadband to the doorsteps of the common man through a policy push and entrepreneurship ecosystem, minister for electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The minister also asked IT companies and Nasscom to participate in the creation of 'Digital Villages' in the country to supplement the government's efforts in the digital literacy movement.
DNA Money had reported about Digital India 2.0 on June 20.
"One of the priority areas for us is to make broadband available at your doorsteps...in this we want to involve entrepreneurs. Just like a mobile SIM card is available in 'paan' shops, can we do something similar for broadband," Prasad said on Monday at an event for four years of Digital India.
EMPOWERING TECH
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- The second phase of BPO policy, where work from home option will be incentivised is also on the cards
- Government looking to leverage 5G and new technologies such as AI under Digital India, mainly in the rural areas
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The availability of broadband and mobiles is an essential component of Digital India, which is feeding the digital appetite of the country.
"Cable operators brought television to the doors of the people, the PCO and Common Service Centre (CSC) became big movements. So did Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)...Can we come up with an architecture backed by entrepreneurship and a good policy where broadband is available for all," he said.
Also, the second phase of BPO where work from home option will be incentivised is also on the cards, the minister said. DNA Money had reported this on April 22.
The ministry plans to expand its existing BPO promotion scheme -- BPO 2.0, under Digital India programme, to include work-from-home options for incentivising firms to set up new units.
"Electronics manufacturing is a part of Digital India. We will work to make India a big export hub for electronics products. We have the human resource and qualified personnel in this area," Prasad said.
The idea is to leverage existing strength in electronics manufacturing and the strong talent pool to position India as an export hub for electronics products. All necessary policy changes will be worked out soon, he said.
"Also, we have to explore how 5G and new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence can be leveraged under Digital India, mainly in the rural areas," he said.
Digital India has been one of the important and ambitious programmes of the government to take inclusive growth across all hooks and corners of the country. Through the second phase of Digital India, the government plans to expand the reach of the earlier programmes to a more number of people, bring in new technologies, connect people through the internet and make India a truly digitally literate society.
