Maharashtra plans to take IT sector to tier 2 and 3 cities: Satej Patil
Maharashtra Minister of State for Information Technology and Home Satej Patil said being a progressive state, Maharashtra has been at the forefront in the IT sector and the government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will ensure that it leads from the front.
Maharashtra Minister of State for Information Technology and Home Satej Patil. (Source: Twitter/@satejp)
Maharashtra Minister of State for Information Technology and Home Satej Patil Friday said the state government will roll out a policy with incentives to the Information and Technology sector for setting up projects in tier 2 and 3 cities like Nagpur, Amaravati, Latur, Satara and others to reduce the burden on cities like Mumbai and Pune.
“The government plans to build IT hubs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities,” Patil told The Indian Express. He added, “Keeping the welfare of the general people in mind, the government will launch a healthcare platform which will connect the public health centres in rural parts, civic hospitals and medical colleges in rural and urban parts to offer healthcare services to the people.”
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On Thursday, Patil participated in Engage Maharashtra, Reboot, Reform, Resurge Roundtable Conference organised by Indian Merchant Chambers (IMC), Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
While talking about the initiatives the state government was taking for the IT sector, the minister at the conference also assured full support to the sector and industrialists engaged in the sector. He also assured IMC and its members to engage in continuous dialogue and cooperation with the stakeholders in the sector.
Patil said being a progressive state, Maharashtra has been at the forefront in the IT sector and the government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will ensure that it leads from the front.
“Cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad have been proven to be IT hubs and the human resources available in these cities have helped in keeping the state at the top in the IT sector. The state government through its company MahaIT has undertaken and implemented many key projects using technology. We disbursed the loan waiver to more than 30 lakh farmers last year, while about 30 lakh students are being benefited from the scholarships transferred directly to their accounts using technology. Being the minister of the IT department, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is keen on keeping the IT sector in Maharashtra always in the forefront,” he said.
Elaborating on the initiatives taken in the IT sector, Patil said the government wants to spread its IT culture established in big cities to the smaller cities.
“Mumbai and Pune have been leading in the IT sector and have been saturated due to migration to these cities. We now want to take this progress to tier 2 and 3 cities like Nagpur, Satara, Amaravati, Latur, Nanded and others by giving incentives to industries. The industries will be helped with various facilities like electricity and others through a separate IT policy. We have come out with an RFP model to facilitate the sector with a simplified procurement process,” he said.
The minister also said the Maharashtra government’s IT department will roll out a platform using technology for the healthcare sector. “There will be a platform to address the healthcare needs of the people by just clicking a button on their devices. We are connecting the district authorities with the hospitals and clinics so that the people get their health issues addressed within minutes. We have connected 12,000-gram panchayats and 25 districts and cities with optical fibre-enabled internet using Mahanet and Bharatnet platforms,” he said.
Patil said the Maharashtra government is open to the recommendations, suggestions by the stakeholders from the IT industry and he is available for them for a dialogue to facilitate progress in the sector.
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Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
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