As a part of its ‘Digital India’ initiative, the government is in the process of finalising a plan for call centres or business process outsourcing (BPO) centres to be opened in smaller, ‘mofussil’ towns.
Addressing the annual summit of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Our flagship ‘Digital India’ is directed more at the poor rather than the elite. The government will incentivise private players to open such centres in the smaller towns. It can propel India to a different horizon’’
The Minister said various ministries, which were implementing their schemes in these areas, had shown interest to become customers of such a scheme. “My understanding of digital equality is when in a ‘Mahadalit’ village, a digitally literate person is operating a call centre. That is the vision we must work towards.’’
Rs.21,000 crore proposals Further, the Minister said that ever since the launch of the ‘Make in India’ programme by the government, “we have received proposals worth Rs.21,000 crore, out of which Rs.6,000-crore worth of projects have already been cleared.’’
The government has embarked on a programme to connect more than 250,000 gram panchayats by optical fibre in three years.
“It involves laying seven lakh kilometres of optic fibre cable over the period, and there will be a huge amount of business potential emerging after the fibre link comes up.’’
Exhorting leaders of the IT sector to allocate funds for such initiatives, Mr. Prasad said, “the Digital India initiative is an obligation for us and a gift for posterity. It will succeed only when we work together.’’
Awards for social innovation In a move to reward those involved in social innovation, Nasscom on Wednesday announced winners of its ‘Social Innovation Forum.’ The awards, in its seventh edition, are supported by IT industry leaders Mphasis and Genpact in 2015. A total of 11 projects were selected from more than 1,000 entries by a jury comprising industry stalwarts like Rohini Nilekani, chairperson of the Grand jury, Ganesh Ayyar, CEO, Mphasis; Ganesh Natarajan, CEO, Zensar and chairman of NASSCOM foundation, among others.
The winners included Vidiyal in the ‘Not for Profit’ organisation category, Kriyate for innovation by a social enterprise, an SOS smart Device by an IIT team in Delhi and Lemon Tree Hotels, which won in the corporate (responsible business) category for a hotel creating visual aids and sign language for its differently-abled employees.
There was a separate category with three catalytic grants for early stage enterprises and four certificates of appreciation.
