TS for broadband connectivity at one go

State awaits Centre’s reply on optic fibre network rollout for gram panchayats. The State government also, Mr.Ramesh said, is keen on "grabbing the opportunity" that is set to unfold as a result of the emphasis on cyber security.

The Telangana government wants the Central project of providing broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats implemented across the State at one go since that would provide people greater access to e-governance initiatives as also help avoid delays on account of a phased rollout.

The Centre’s response to the request is awaited, Director (Communications) in IT, Electronics & Communications Department A.S.Ramesh said on Friday. Three districts in the State figure in the ongoing first phase of the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) project to ensure broadband connectivity to all 2.5 lakh villages in the country.

Tough to meet deadline

Stating that the work has covered 200 of the 750 km in Nizamabad – Khammam and Ranga Reddy are the other districts – he said at the current pace it would not be possible to provide the connectivity to all villages within the December 2016 national deadline.

“It may not be completed even by 2020… we are requesting the Centre to take up the remaining districts too. Once fibre connectivity [is available], we can use it for anything,” he told presspersons on the sidelines of an e-governance knowledge sharing summit here. It was organised as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Computer Society of India and organised by its Hyderabad chapter.

Cyber security

The State government also, Mr.Ramesh said, is keen on “grabbing the opportunity” that is set to unfold as a result of the emphasis on cyber security.

The National Cyber Security Policy 2013 estimates the need for five lakh cyber security professionals and the State wants to impart cyber security training to as many engineering students as possible.

This initiative will be part of the Telangana Academy of Knowledge Sciences and the State government is planning to seek assistance from the University of Hyderabad and the IIIT.

CS reaches out to techies

Inaugurating the summit, Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma urged IT professionals to partner the State as it seeks to retain the predominance in e-governance enjoyed by erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

The need, he added, is to take IT initiatives closer to the people at nominal costs and to make them user friendly. E-governance was the only answer if the thrust is on providing efficient and corruption free service delivery to citizens.