This is an archive article published on August 28, 2021
Maharashtra to draft fresh policies for IT, fintech and drones
While the new IT policy will focus on infrastructure and incentives for IT, ITeS in smaller cities, the fintech policy aims to convert Mumbai into a global fintech hub, says Minister for IT Satej Patil
Congress MLA Satej Patil (Source: Twitter/@satejp)
The state government, which is drafting a new IT policy, will also come up with policies for data centres, fintech and drones, Maharashtra Minister of State for Information Technology Satej Patil said Saturday.
“Since our existing IT policy is expiring, we are in the process of launching the new IT policy. It aims to encourage tech companies to accelerate tech adoption and promote the IT industry in the state. The policy which is being drafted in consultation with NASSCOM and IT industry associations will focus on steps, incentives, tax rebates to attract IT, ITeS and IT-enabled companies in smaller cities (tier-2 and tier-3) like Nagpur, Latur, Nashik and Aurangabad,” he said.
Patil said the government has been exploring the use of technology for administrative activities, including pandemic-related management and flood mitigation. “We are taking steps to ensure that IT plays an important role in the daily life of the common man by using e-governance initiatives like e-office and Maharashtra blockchain sandbox, among others,” he said.
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Patil said the government was chalking out policies for IT-related categories as well. “We are also formulating our own data centre policy,” he said.
As of now, IT companies have mostly been focusing on Mumbai and Pune for setting up their units. The upcoming IT policy will provide the right kind of infrastructure and incentives to establish IT companies in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. “Setting up units in these new locations would help avoid the saturation witnessed in Mumbai, Thane and Pune,” he said.
The minister said the Maharashtra government will also launch a fintech policy with a vision to convert Mumbai into a global fintech hub. “The IT department is studying the best practices in the fintech sector with a focus on government and regulatory support to formulate the fintech policy. It will be launched soon with an aim to create the right kind of IT infrastructure for fintech companies and startups in Mumbai,” he said.
Like the central government, the state too is planning to unveil its drone policy for healthcare, agriculture, power, flood monitoring and so on, said Patil. “During the pandemic, drone technology came as a big support in monitoring quarantine, hotspots and Covid-19 curbs.”
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Drones will be a great enabler during the rainy season in Mumbai, not only for inspection of drains and waterlogging but also for providing relief and food. “It will help in surveillance and security mechanisms at sensitive places like the international airport and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,” he said.
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Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
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.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
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