Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday interact with the beneficiaries of Digital India programme. The interaction will happen as the government's flagship initiative completes six years.
Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will also be present. He will make opening remarks at the programme.
"The program will then see a presentation of a video on key achievements of the Digital India, which will lead to an interactive session of Prime Minister with the beneficiaries of various schemes of Digital India," the Ministry of Electronics and IT said in the statement on Wednesday.
PM Modi is expected to highlight various achievements of the digital India initiative and share success stories during the interactive session. The programme will be moderated by Ajay Sawhney, secretary at the ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY).
The digital India initiative
The programme was launched on July 1, 2015, by PM Modi. It works towards ensuring that the services of the government are made available electronically to all citizens.
Under the initiative, the government has started many plans, including the one to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks and improve digital literacy.
The vision of the digital India
{{/usCountry}}The vision of the digital India
{{/usCountry}}According to MeiTY, the vision of digital India programme is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
The ministry has announced three key focus areas to help the programme achieve this vision. These are: Digital infrastructure as a core utility, governance and service on demand and digital empowerment of citizens.
Under the first vision area, the government is ensuring high-speed internet speed internet as a core utility for delivery of services, including banking transactions, and safe and secure cyber-space. The second focus area seeks to seamlessly integrate services across departments or jurisdictions and the third one is working towards providing universal digital literacy.
Key investments under digital India
Tech giants like Google and Microsoft have announced high-value investments in India as part of the programme to increase digital penetration and make the people digitally aware.
In January, Microsoft launched a new India Development Centre (IDC) facility in Noida. The new facility will serve as a premier hub for driving cutting-edge engineering and innovation, according to Microsoft.
In July last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company would be investing nearly $10 billion into developing infrastructure and funding digital innovation in India over the next five to seven years.