UP not mulling new IT policy

The Uttar Pradesh government said there was no need for a new IT policy in the state and the need of the hour was to ensure proper implementation of the 2004 IT Policy.

“The existing IT policy is well-equipped to cater to the needs of the industry but renewed efforts would be made for proper implementation of its guidelines,” state IT and Electronics Principal Secretary Chandra Prakash told Business Standard on sidelines of a seminar on ‘IT Industries in UP — The Road Ahead’ here last evening.

The seminar was organised by MSME chamber Indian Industries Association (IIA) and Association of Knowledge Workers Lucknow (AKWL). It was attended by representatives of leading IT/ITES companies.

Asked if government would consider setting up government-promoted IT/ITES-centric Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the state, he replied in the negative saying that separate measures were not needed since provisions contained in the IT policy were sufficient.

Earlier, in his keynote address he had said, “Creation of SEZs was important for UP” and that with the new initiatives of the state government, the perception about Uttar Pradesh would change positively in next the 2-3 years.

“e-governance is coming up in a big way in Uttar Pradesh but it is also the duty of the industry to build pressure on the government if there is no headway in any policy or scheme,” he added.

Prakash said the government was setting up 17,000 common service centres christened as ‘Jan Suvidha Kendra’ in the rural areas to offer host of services online at one place.

“e-governance is the priority of the government and these centres of electronic delivery services in public domain would be rolled out on public-private partnership (PPP) model,” he said.

The government is setting up a state meta data centre, which will contain data of all the departments and the different places would be connected to it through district data centres with private investment.