Digitization key to corruption-free delivery of services: Ansari

Digitisation plays a key role in ensuring corruption-free and speedy delivery of services to the people, Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Information Technology Imran Raza Ansari said today.

The growth of the country can only be increased by moving towards digitisation, the minister said, adding that the digital penetration in the country is around 75-80 percent but there is a need to bring rural areas at par with the cities in terms of digitisation for the overall growth of the country.

The minister was addressing a gathering of village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) and digitally literate candidates from various districts during the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) celebrations at Panchayat Bhawan here.

Terming VLEs in the state as 'change agents' of Digital India, the minister said these rural entrepreneurs have the power to revolutionise India by empowering rural citizens and providing them job opportunities.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working with a vision to elevate the rural population and ensure that over a billion people become digitally literate by 2020.

PMGDISHA has brought a revolution in the country and everybody associated with this programme is learning and earning, he added. He further said that ensuring the presence of women at the forefront of Digital India would result in new social order where they would play the role of change agents in building a society free of any discrimination.

Digitally empowered communities can bring a paradigm shift in encouraging and empowering rural India, he stressed. Meanwhile, the minister gave five PMGDISHA certificates and 10 mobile phones to deserving beneficiaries.

An MoU of PMGDISHA was also signed between CSC and Jammu and Kashmir e-Governance Agency (JAKEGA) on the occasion. The minister asked the VLEs to deliver all services to the citizens through CSC so that their turnover can be enhanced significantly.