Government's digital push a welcome step

Our Honorable finance minister, Mr Arun Jaitley set the right tone with the Union Budget announcement of 2017. As the Collector of Dantewada District in Chhattisgarh, I echo his sentiments in promoting digital economy in rural and semi-urban areas. The initiatives announced in the Budget under this umbrella would allow governance to become strategically streamlined, improve accountability, and empower a wider citizen base in the country.

In Dantewada, I’m positive that the resource allocation in the Education sector and increased autonomy to Institutions provided in this Budget would act as a sustainable extension of the ongoing projects initiated by the state government. For instance, this would accelerate the Education City project in Dantewada, and allow it to cater to a larger population for impactful time duration. Moreover, the Innovation Fund created for Secondary Education would act as a booster for our kids in Dantewada’s schools who have shown a great amount of dedication and talent in science and innovation.

 For instance, Ms Indu Manikpuri, a student of Class 7 in Aastha Vidya Mandir, has already received a patent for her innovative project in sanitary waste management on her idea of creating a septic tank level and pressure indicator to stop the tanks from over flowing. This fund would further facilitate this spirit of science and innovation, and give enterprising children access to bigger opportunities and platforms. Similarly, the Digi Gaon initiative, launched to provide tele-medicine through digital technology, also has immense potential to break barriers, and act as building blocks towards our already existing foundation of the health ATMs scheme.

Seeing its futuristic growth potential, I support the center's vision in allocation of funds towards health, education and skill development through SANKALP (Skill Acquisition & Knowledge Awareness Program), Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas yojna, Digi Gaon and the Innovation Fund. The impact of such programs shall be most evident at the grass-root level of the society, and substantially contribute to the overall growth of the nation.
Mr. Saurabh Kumar is the current collector of the district of Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. He is an IAS officer from the 2009 batch, Chhattisgarh Cadre. He holds a B.Tech from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology.