Mobile numbers to become defacto identity of a person, GOI official at e-Governance conf

Speaking at the event, RS Sharma, secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, gave further clarity on the NDA government’s future plans. “India is a mobile country. Mobile both in terms of the mobility of it’s population and it’s mobile connectivity. There are about 900 million mobile connections. Therefore, if we have to take ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to the people, mobile must be one of the foremost medium to carry the e-governance initiatives.

“Every citizen also need to have a mobile and a mobile connection. This mobile number will enable him to access the services, and more interestingly this digital identity (read Aadhar Card), which is biometric, will be linked to this mobile number and so the mobile number will become a defacto identity of the person. And therefore he or she will be able to conduct transactions through the mobile.

Sharma said that 700 million Aadhar Cards have been issued so far. “The government seeks to provide digital identity to each citizen of the country. An identity which is unique, on-line and authenticable. Every citizen in the country will get his or her own digital identity through Aadhar Card by the end of next year,” he added saying that Aadhar card, mobile and bank account will be the three numbers of “empowerment” for a common man.

He also talked about his government plans to provide “digital lockers” of one gigabyte capacity to each citizen for stroring data, creation of cloud-based software that are cost effective, real-time and on-line, game-changing e-signatures and leveraging GIS (Geographical Information System) for e-governance.

Sharma also talked about launching e-books for schools and starting the country public wi-fi at Taj Mahal in the coming weeks.

Here is a compilation of Narendra Modi’s tweets on e-governance

We are actively working to create a robust digital infrastructure that would serve the interests of our citizens & transform their lives.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2015

e-Governance is an essential part of our dream of Digital India. The more technology we infuse in Governance, the better it is for India.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2015

I am also certain that technology & e-Governance will make processes simpler & remove several obstacles slowing the pace of work & progress.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2015

I urge you to explore ways to provide as many services as possible through mobiles. Let us bring the world into our mobile phones!

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2015

The youthful energy that our Nation possesses is our prized asset. Giving an impetus to skill development through technology is essential.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2015

Scale & speed at which we have to take India’s development journey requires maximum & smart utilisation of latest technology.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 30, 2015

E-governance projects from non-BJP ruled states like Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka got the maximum awards during the 18th National Conference on e-governance that was held at Mahatma Mandir in Gujarat on Friday.

Karnataka was the only state government to receive two “Gold” awards at the event that saw 22 e-Governance Awards being presented in 12 different categories. Karnataka’s state highway development project received an award for innovative use of mobile technology, where the Congress-ruled state used three different mobile applications for work inspection, physical reporting and feedback of citizens for a 7469 km of core road network that was built at the cost of Rs 2938 crore. The state’s vehicle database management was also awarded a gold for “citizen centric service delivery through ICT”.

Similarly, Bihar government’s ‘Samvida’ project — an on-line contractual recruitment and volunteer services portal — won the Gold award for “innovative use of ICT for customer benefit.” “This project of the rural development department was introduced by Nitish Kumar and has been so successful, that 10 other departments have adopted it. Within a three-month-period, the project has helped recruit 9770 persons under three categories of Gramin Awaas Sahayak, Junior engineer and Accountant. We had received over six lakh applications for these positions,” said Sanjay Krishna, Officer on Special Duty, who represented Bihar government at the award ceremony.

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The office of the chief electoral officer of Bihar also received a silver award for “Force Deployment Software” that facilitates deployment of election machinery across 38 districts of the state.

Similarly, AGRISNET project of the Tamil Nadu government that brought about a “paradigm shift” in agriculture and helped map 72 lakh farm holdings in the state also won the gold award for “incremental innovations”. The state government-run Tamil Nadu Minerals Ltd also won a silver in “innovative use of ICT by state government PSUs category”.

The government of West Bengal won two silver awards: one for Kanyashree Online 2.0 and second for e-initiatives in commercial taxes. The district collector’s office, Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir got a silver for it’s e-panchayat project which has simplified the lives of 58000 families living in the militancy affected hilly district of Reasi. The scheme caters to MGNREGA job card holders.

Among outstanding e-governance initiative by academic and research institutions, Kerala’s St. Teresa’s College was awarded for it’s e-Jaalakam project (e-governance literacy project).

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Meanwhile, among the BJP-ruled states, Gujarat, Maharashtra and MP also bagged awards for their respective e-governance initiatives. Gujarat. The “Suraksha Setu -Safe City Surat” project of the state received a gold award for usage of technology in e-governance. The project is designed for surveillance, crime prevention and detection, post incident forensic examination, traffic management and enforcement, for providing disaster management support and pollution control measures.

The e-procurement system in Gujarat also received a silver under the incremental innovations in existing projects category. Similarly, the Chattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society received a gold for the use of GIS (Geographical Information System) in e-governance.