E-governance has almost doubled in 2015: Prasad

Electronic transactions related to e-governance projects in the country have almost doubled in 2015 under the Digital India programme, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday.

"According to the government website electronic transaction aggregation and analysis layer (eTaal), 3.53 billion transactions took place in 2014, which almost doubled in 2015 to 6.95 billion ... this shows Indians' drive for technology," Prasad said while addressing i-bharat conference organised by industry body Ficci in New Delhi.

eTaal is a portal under Communications and IT ministry which disseminates e-transaction statistics of national and state level e-governance projects, including mission mode projects. eTaal receives transaction statistics from web-based applications periodically on near real time basis and presents an analysis of transaction counts to give a quick view of transactions done by various e-governance projects.

"Indians have a great taste for technology. They first observe it, then adopt it and finally enjoy it. Indians by temperament are innovative," he added.

The minister said digital momentum in the country has begun, facilitated by programmes like Digital India. Prasad said the Digital India programme has started bearing fruits, e-services have begun to pick up momentum and reaching the bottom of the pyramid, which is digitally empowering the people of the country.

Highlighting the progress of Digital India, Prasad said so far more than 12,000 rural post office branches have been linked digitally and soon payment banking would also become a reality for them. The government also plans to make 'digital village' across the country, by linking all schemes with technology.

The 'digital village' would be powered by LED lighting, solar energy, skill development centres and e-services like e-education and e-health. "To make this programme a success, District Collectors will have to play an important role," he said.

Prasad said the progressive policies and aggressive focus on 'Make in India' have played a significant role in the resurgence of the electronics manufacturing sector.