By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: With the inauguration of the State Wide Areas Network (SWAN) and State Data Centre (SDC), Meghalaya is ready to launch its journey on the path of e-governance, informed Ajay Kumar, Joint Secretary of Information Technology department, Union Ministry of Communications.
Addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the SWAN and SDC at the office premises of the Directorate of Printing Stationery, Secretariat Hill here on Wednesday, Kumar said the launch of the dual projects will not only provide services to the people but also bring about development in every aspect like health, skill, security and others.
He also informed that the Union Cabinet’s Committee on Infrastructure has recently approved the rollout of the e-district mission mode project in all 640 districts of the country, including the 41 districts where pilot projects of the scheme have been initiated. “I hope that Meghalaya can get an access to this project which is of immense importance in terms of providing services to the people in this Information Technology (IT) age,” Kumar added.
“With e-governance, it will enable all government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets, at affordable costs and in the most efficient, transparent and reliable manner”, asserted the Joint Secretary.
Meanwhile, speaking as the Chief Guest on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said what is left now is to get the people hooked to the Government-to-Citizen services and check that it being optimally utilised by the people. “There is a need for outsourcing of youth training for different schemes like IT, health and farming sectors,” Dr Sangma said.
“The use of technology for efficient and transparent governance is highly important,” he said while adding that with e-governance, it will provide ample information to the government in relation to the weakest chain in a district and at the same time pin-pointing the deficiency and addressing them accordingly.
He also informed that Meghalaya is the 14th state in the country to have Information and Communication Technology (ITC). “We need to leverage other state governments in the North East as well to make use of this service in return of which the State can also generate revenue in this regard,” the Chief Minister said.
However, at present, the State Health Department requires an urgent need for IT infrastructure to extend its services to the people, asserted Dr Sangma.
Others present on the occasion were IT Minister AL Hek, Chief Secretary WMS Pariat, Commissioner and Secretary of IT DP Wahlang, Senior Technical Director of NIC T Dkhar besides other principal secretaries and government officials.