Journalism of Courage
“If the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was known for highways, the Narendra Modi government will be known for information superhighways,” Union Minister for Communication and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said inaugurating the Digital Bharat summit organised by FICCI in New Delhi on Thursday. The Financial Express is supporting the event.
Making a fervent plea for bridging the digital gap between rural and urban India, Prasad said it is a new, different and empowered India, “an India that needs to engage”. He highlighted how over 40 per cent travel reservations are now made through e-ticketing.
“Digital India is to bridge the gap between digital haves and digital have nots. I would like to see a mason or carpenter use his smartphone for better business prospects,” the minister said. “Digital India is something we owe the country and is hence party and ideology neutral.”
Prasad also assured the industry that spectrum auctions will be conducted in a fair, reasonable and timely manner. “The roadmap will be disclosed to you well in advance,” he underlined.
Other speakers at the two-event are Congress leader Manish Tewari, BJD’s Jay Panda and BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi. In addition, BJP’s National Technology head Arvind Gupta, Trai chairman Rahul Khullar, who retired on Wednesday, DoT secretary Rakesh Garg and several senior DoT officials.
