The Government of Uttar Pradesh is making all-out efforts to bring about a revolution in the field of governance so as to serve its people better. G S Naveen Kumar, Special Secretary to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, in an interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN), shares the vision of the State Government
he Government of Uttar Pradesh has taken several e-Governance and m-Governance initiatives. Please share the landmark achievements of the State.
The government strongly believes its efficiency and higher degree of transparency in a time bound manner can be achieved only through e-Governance and electronic delivery of services. Our new UP IT & Start-UP Policy 2016 focuses upon provision of providing e-Services for public through internet and Common Service Delivery outlets such as Jan Seva Kendra, Lokvani, e-Suvidha etc. to provide seamless service to people of the state.
Presently, 57 government services of 14 departments are being delivered electronically and over 300 government services have been identified to be delivered electronically very shortly. Uttar Pradesh is among top five leading states with respect to e-transactions in the country. Continuous efforts are being made to minimise the physical interface between citizens and government offices by enabling government service delivery at the doorstep of common man with the help of ICT and mobile. To ensure this, 33,000 Lokvani, CSC and eSuvidha Centres have been started in the State.
A ISO20000 and IS27001-certified state-of-the-art Data Centre (SDC) is operational to provide application/data hosting facility for various departments of the Government of UP. The State is providing seamless internet connectivity to all the State Departments, districts, tehsil and block offices through UPSWAN. Now, it is being extended up to panchayat level under BharatNet.
Besides, we have undertaken e-Scholarship, Government Departments are being made paperless, e-Procurement system, Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS-http://jansunwai.up.nic.in) is operational to achieve good governance using latest technology, Integrated Social Pension Portal (http://sspy-up.gov.in), upnews360 (http://upnews360.in), shashanadesh-portal(http://shasanadesh.up.nic.in) and the 1090 Women Power Line.
Considering the prospects of m-Governance, the State Government has promoted its services through apps. As a result, mobile applications such as m-Sehat (strengthening the frontline health workers minimize mother-infant mortality rate), m-Swasthya (accelerate the reduction of maternal, neonatal, and child mortality), UP One etc have been developed and are operational.
As part of capacity building, the government has initiated the process of creation of Virtual IT.
The New IT & Startup Policy 2016 has been released to help technology-led startups. It also aims to tap the potential and incentivise the IT sector by targeting all categories such as Startups, MSMEs and large IT Players
How the State’s new IT and Startup policies are wooing investors to set up units here?
With a high level of technological advancement and infrastructure to support development and promotion of IT & IT-enabled services, the State has the capacity to become a market leader for IT, software, Electronics hardware and BPO industry.
The New IT & Startup Policy 2016 has been released to help technology led start-ups. It also aims to tap the potential and incentivize IT Sector by targeting all categories such as Startups, MSME and large IT Players.
Various financial incentives such as 100% reimbursement of the total EPF amount, 100% Reimbursement of the cost on successfully securing certifications, 5% interest subsidy, land Rebate of 25% to IT/ITeS units on purchase of land from state Agencies, exemption on Electricity duty etc. There has been special incentives for MSME IT/ITeS units with 25% reimbursement on lease /rental charges, 25% rebate in electricity bill. In the startup space, Uttar Pradesh government shall establish an initial Corpus (Seed fund) of `100 crore to promote Incubators and mobilize startups in the state of Uttar Pradesh. UP has already positioned itself as one of the leading IT/ITeS investment destination in India.
What is the vision of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to improve IT & Electronics sector, particularly to create more jobs for youth?
State is focusing on creation of Infrastructure like IT Cities, IT Parks, Start ups which shall be helpful in generation of jobs in huge number. IT city Lucknow based, on walk to work concept, envisages an initial investment of INR 1500 crores will generate 25,000 direct & 50,000 indirect jobs.
Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. This sector is expected to grow to $ 400 Billion by 2020. State has a vision to promote and develop the Electronics Manufacturing Industry and take it to the level where UP is treated as a globally competitive and industry friendly Electronics Design and Manufacturing destination, and contribute towards the overall economy of the State and the Nation”.
UP is establishing three Electronic Manufacturing Clusters investments to the tune of $1 billion in the ESDM (Electronics System Design and Manufacturing) sector within 2-3 years with the goal of scaling up of Electronics Manufacturing Clusters and establishing UP as one of the most preferred destination for ESDM companies.
Since IT/ITeS and Electronic Manufacturing Industry is being supported by its allied industries such as engineering services, R&D, Metal/ chemical industry, Embedded system design, Telecom, Hospitality, Logistic & Transportation, infrastructure developer, education many others hence direct & indirect jobs shall be generated in these sectors also. Laptops scheme was launched and over 15 Lakh Laptops were distributed to the meritorious and financially week students.
Our aim is that the youths are provided skill training. Uttar Pradesh Skill Development Mission (UPSDM) is implementing the first of its kind integrated skill development training program for people, aged between 14 to 35 years, across 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. UPSDM has made a target to provide skill development training to over 2.3 million youth over the three years (i.e. up to Year 2017) and to provide these youths gainful employment in their sector of training.
Also, U.P. has a the privilege of IIT Kanpur, IT BHU, IIIT Allahabad, IIM Lucknow and more than 700 engineering colleges. Country’s First State Government Run Start up Concept based Information Technology Incubation Centre – IT UPVAN has been established in Lucknow and Ghaziabad with +200 seats.
Under e-SETU programme, leading Companies/Business Houses are providing free of cost training in Tier-II & Tier-III cities of the state starting with Kannauj, Agra, Lucknow & Gorakhpur. State is desirous to create an enabling environment for youth so that they have options to work in U.P. for U.P.
Can you share major IT projects which are currently in progress in the State?
A 100-acre IT city is being developed in Lucknow to pave the way for a robust IT infrastructure not only confined to Noida but in the interiors of the State. It is being developed on ‘Walk to Work’ model which will be equipped with residential and hostel facility. This project with an initial investment of approx. $225 million shall be instrumental in bringing about direct employment of about 25,000 jobs and expected indirect employment of twice of direct employment.
To target the IT Infrastructure in Tier II & Tier III cities in the state, the state government has directed all development authorities to build IT Parks in the respective cities. The other sector the government is focused on is the Electronic Manufacturing sector.
Foreseeing the tremendous domestic and international demand in electronics, semiconductor and manufacturing industry and play its role in reducing the import bill along with whole of India, GoUP has come up with a unique Electronics Manufacturing Policy 2014. This policy with a dedicated mission aims at setting up of three Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) within the state. In the first phase, land identification for setting up three EMCs (two 40 Hectare EMCs at Yamuna Expressway and one 85 Hectare EMC at Greater Noida has been planned and final notification for these EMC’s is in process. Leading Indian mobile handset manufactures & Taiwanese companies are coming on board as anchor units in these EMCs for which MoU has been signed for over $ 750 million with these leading mobile manufacturing companies/LED manufacturing companies like Lava, Spice, Pacetel and EON electric & industry association such as TEEMA, ICA, ELCINA & IESA.
What are your future plans for the State?
The State of Uttar Pradesh has made many provisions in the new IT & Start up Policy 2016 for overall development of IT & e-Governance infrastructure in the State for quick, transparent and Good Governance for the citizens of Uttar Pradesh. State has planned to set up one Common Service Delivery Outlet at every 2 Gram Panchayats. State has also planned to augment its State Data Centre by 100 percent for which bid process have been initiated already. Construction of IT Parks in Meerut, Agra, Kanpur and Gorakhpur shall start within this year. IT City is already in the top priority list of Government of UP that is to be completed. Under this project, Skill Development Centre & one IT Building shall be operational within 2016.
The State has received proposals from leading mobile manufacturers and its component suppliers from domestic as well as international players from Taiwan, China, South Korea etc. With a conservative estimate, the state will witness more than INR 2000 crores investment in the next financial year.Also, As per the new IT &startup policy, State has envisioned to create a world class startup ecosystem in the state through strategic investments and policy intervention, leveraging the robust innovation climate in the State.
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