The digital India project will make it easy for the people of India to access the government department and get the services more easily. It will help to stop corruption. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be chairing a meeting to finalise a comprehensive plan for Digital India Week. The event is likely to be held in July when various ministries will launch a range of online services for the people of the country. An informal group of ministers has discussed the nature of services and products which will have a mass connect that will be launched online during the Digital India Week. These include portals for loans, rural e-commerce, national scholarships, lost and found children, e-hospital, tele-medicine and e-bag (online study material for students).

The government is planning to bring in former President A P J Abdul Kalam as the brand ambassador for Digital India. “We need to have iconic people personifying modern technology to spread awareness about Digital India. We have reached out to former President A P J Abdul Kalam to be a brand ambassador. He is positive,” said a senior government functionary. When contacted, the former President’s office said, they have not received any formal communication yet.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will be tapping the subscriber database available to telecom service operators, to spread the Digital India message across the country. The ministry has already called for ideas and concepts from a dozen creative agencies to make the event a grand success. It plans to have a catchy logo and a tag line for the Digital India Week, which will be able to attract the public and convey the message of Digital India.

“The idea is the total digitization of society. During the weeklong event that will be held across the country, a number of new applications / portals will be launched to bring government services to citizens digitally and the aim is to ensure that people see a visible change in governance by the end of the year,” said an official. The campaign will involve multiple partners and stakeholders, including ministries and government departments, industry, school and academic institutions, gram panchayats and civic bodies, which will cover almost all the needs of a citizen of this country.

By Premji