With the Centre busying itself with launch of programmes and websites to mark Good Governance Day despite it being Christmas, the national capital witnessed a slew of government-organised functions.
Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal formally launched a portal for e-auction of 24 coal mines for qualified bidders, which will begin in February. The Civil Aviation Ministry launched an e-office governance initiative.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar directed officials to evolve a policy for reducing court cases in service matters, including pensions. Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harshvardhan dedicated an SMS-based weather information and disaster alert system to the country.
Rural Development Minister Birender Singh launched software for addressing complaints related to implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, and released a standard data book and journal, Grameen Sampark .
Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda launched “Mission Indradhanush,” which will aim to cover all those children by 2020 who had not been vaccinated, or were partially vaccinated, against seven vaccine-preventable diseases — diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B. The Ministry identified 201 high-focus districts in the country in the first phase.
Communications and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad renewed the commitment of his Ministry to deliver good governance through the vision of Digital India. He launched products and technologies by different agencies of the Department of Telecommunications such as Gyansetu — an Internet-based real-time Information and Communications Technology (ICT) system designed by C-DoT primarily to provide e-services to the underprivileged rural population of India.
