Maha selects Melghat to set up smart village pilot project

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said that a pilot project of smart village will be taken up in Harisal in Melghat area which will be digitally connected to improve health care.
"We are in talks with Microsoft for the purpose. Melghat is known for malnutrition deaths. The region has connectivity problems," Fadnavis said after launching local cloud services from Microsoft data-centres in Mumbai and Pune.
"Efforts were made in the last 20 years but success was not achieved. Technology can help eradicate malnutrition. We can built network and connectivity to provide better health care," he added.
"Pilot project of smart villages will be taken up in Harisal in Melghat area," he said.

"Technology can accelerate economic development, productivity and prosperity in our state. Microsoft cloud services will help use cloud computing to drive inclusive governance. The cloud is a great way to address challenges in education, health care and inclusive growth," the Chief Minister said.
Fadnavis further said his government is also working on 'smart MIDCs'.

"All Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation's (MIDCs) will be brought on one digital platform. Cloud computing and data centres will make service delivery system fast, efficient and responsive," he said, adding, accountability can also be fixed.
He said Pune is the first city under digital surveillance.
"Now we will get to analyse types, trends of crime and the timing when they are committed. This will help us to formulate strategy to curb incidence of crime. South Mumbai will soon be brought under CCTV surveillance," he added.

Fadnavis also said future is more about digital than street crime.
"People will lose money if financial services in digital form are not safe. Safety is of prime concern. If data is safe, businesses will flourish," he added.