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IT VITAL FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION - SHRI PRAMOD MAHAJAN SHRI MAHAJAN RELEASES HDR 2001 REPORT
New Delhi ~ July 10, 2001
Union Minister for IT & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pramod Mahajan has said the use of IT has to be linked with the people's ability to use it as an empowering & networking tool. Technology used with adaptation and innovation creates a people-friendly image facilitating the emergence of digital landscape whereby people understand the nuances of using futuristic and cutting edge technologies. A digital divide is created more by the users of technology and our global experience has shown that technology has always remained neutral. This was stated by Shri Mahajan while delivering the key note address at the release of the Human Development Report 2001 "Making New Technologies Work for Human Development" here today.
Elaborating further Shri Mahajan said technological innovation was essential for human progress. The Indian experience of IT had shown that it had expanded opportunities and increased the social and economic rewards of using and creating technology. India had taken the lead in innovating and diffusing its IT prowess all over the world and as a result today its brand image as an "IT Investment Destination" had attained strategic global presence. It was for these very reasons perhaps Shri Mahajan said that the HDR Report of 2001 had acknowledged India's IT global presence and at the same time singled out Bangalore as one of the prolific IT hub centres in the world. The IT revolution in India had created technological growth and IT hub centres creating new networking opportunities and provided the platform for building the capacity for future IT innovation. The series of policy initiatives undertaken recently would not only solve the problem of connectivity they would promote the use of Information
Communication & Technology as development and enabling tools. One of the biggest challenges Shri Mahajan said that lay before the Ministry of IT was to create opportunities for universalising access of IT to the people of this country. In his address Shri Mahajan touched upon important initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of IT in order to increase access provide innovating tools and facilitate use of people-friendly technologies. The Minister said the IT Ministry's initiative in the North-East in the form of establishing Community Information Centres a series of networking hubs had been a big experimental success and it was possible to introduce this initiative for the whole country. Shri Mahajan also briefly mentioned the policy initiatives undertaken in establishing the Media Lab Asia in India and "Operation Knowledge" an initiative facilitating the wide use of IT in schools.
Earlier Shri Mahajan formally released the Human Development Report 2001 and presented the first copy to Smt. Najma Heptulla, Deputy Chairperson, Rajya Sabha.
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