Punjab draws blueprint of IT revolution

CHANDIGARH, INDIA: The second session of the e-Revolution 2010 event, 'Progressing by Partnerships', saw some eminent speakers from both private and public sectors. With a welcome address from Dr. S S Channy, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Govt of Punjab, the session was followed by key issues facing the governance and IT deployments in Punjab.

Talking on the occasion, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister, Govt of Punjab, highlighted the recent developments in the state in the sphere of ICT. According to him, IT is the biggest and the fastest source of job creation. He also talked about various aspects of IT and governance reforms and said that by using IT as a tool, bureaucratic hassles can be easily done away with.

He further emphasized that his government is committed to bring some serious changes and place Punjab on the forefront of IT revolution. And to support the revolution the state government is planning to commence several e-governance initiatives like e-tendering, e-payments, e-centers, e-gram centers, e-land records, e-transport and many more.

“Hopefully, the people of Punjab will see the difference brought by IT implementations from December 2010 onwards,” said Badal.

The Deputy Chief Minister also shared a few more plans which would help Punjab become the most sought-after destination for the ICT investors in northern India.

“We have plans to make Punjab power surplus. No growth can come without power which is the most important part of infrastructure,” said Badal. “My aim is that in nearly one and half years, people should be self-enabled by IT and the need to go to the government offices for their requirements should be lessened,” he added.

Dr. Pramod Kumar, Chairman, Punjab Governance Reforms Commission, Govt. of Punjab, discussed various ways of empowering the local citizens by giving rights of dignity, health, education, pension among others and emphasized that the government is committed to bring in the necessary reforms.

Education is another area where IT has been bringing in some paradigm shift. Prof M K Surappa, Director, IIT Ropar, discussed in details “managing the quality paradigm of tech education”. He elaborated the ways in which quality technical education can be given in the state and how to make Punjab a hub of talent pool.

SC Agarwal, IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt of Punjab said, “Ours is the government that believes in attracting investors” and reasserted the state's resolve to bring in change via ICT and give the best in terms of infrastructure to the investors.