New Delhi: Union Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, P.P. Chaudhary has unveiled Mphasis 'My Stamp', to commemorate Mphasis' Silver Jubilee at an event held at the General Post Office in Bengaluru. He also interacted with the general public during the programmes organised by Pravasi Rajasthani Sangh in various parts of Bengaluru and exhorted them to use digital payments as a means to not only ease the payment process but also to reduce corruption. He also motivated the audience to use IT-enabled service platforms to avail the services being offered by the Government at all levels.
"It is our vision to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and the government has taken a number of measures to spur this vision. Organizations like Mphasis have played a significant role in putting our country as the Information Technology powerhouse of the world." said Shri Chaudhary during the unveiling ceremony.
Chaudhary there after interacted with the IT industry on the National Policy on Software Products during the Industry Meet organized by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Bengaluru and sought their feedback on the draft policy. During his address to the industry later, hesaid, "I feel this policy has the potential to synergize the efforts of the government and the industry to create a robust software product industry."
He also held a meeting with the senior executives of top IT companies ofBengaluru to understand the issues which may have an impact on the growth of IT industry in India.The industry representatives appreciated the umbrella of services being provided by STPI to the IT industry not only to the established units but also to the start ups. However, they expressed their concern on the disparity of the incentives available under STPI scheme vis-à-vis the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) policy and requested the Minister of State to take necessary steps.
Shri Chaudhary held a review of the progress of Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) being set up in Bengaluru for which the DPR has already been approved by theGovernment of India. "Government of India would extend all possible support to the state governmentof Karnataka for developing the proposed ITIR." Shri P.P. Chaudhary said after the review.
He also undertook a review of the activities of STPI, Bengaluru, which alone contributes to about 40% of the industry's exports from India. During the review, Minister directed STPI to hold consultations with all industry stakeholders, at least on a quarterly basis, to address their concerns so that the country continues to be the dominant player in the IT/ITeS industry space. He also undertook review of the activities of the Karnataka branch of National Informatics Centre (NIC), ERNET and STQC and appreciated the work being done by these organizations.Director, STPI, Bengaluru also informed of the efforts being made by STPI, Bengaluru towards promoting digital literacy and digital payments and as a part of the awareness creation on Cashless Economy and Digital Payments, so far 81 workshops have been conducted by them for 5,000 beneficiaries covering IT units and general public in Karnataka. Shri P. P. Chaudhary appreciated their efforts and directed all other organizations to also conduct workshops to promote use of digital payment.
Shri Chaudhary also visited Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru to address the participants of the workshop on Women in Science and Engineering, 2017 being organised by IEEE (Nanotechnology Council) at the Centre for Nanoscience and Engineering (CeNSE) of IISC, Bengaluru. While addressing the participants, Shri Chaudhary said, "Smart nation would comprise of smart people and smart people come from a quality education system. The scientists should make all efforts to improve the quality of education in the country, especially in rural areas, and devise technologies to cater to this requirement."
