BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday urged young Information Technology (IT) professionals to work towards betterment of poor rather than keeping use of IT for elite class only.
While inaugurating Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)’s software development facility — Garima Park Campus — in Gandhinagar, Modi said that young IT professionals should develop software and applications, which would make lives of crores of poor people easier. Citing the example of his Government’s IT initiative in Public Distribution System (PDS), the Gujarat Chief Minister said that introduction of IT in PDS not only benefited thousands of BPl (below poverty line) families across the State but it also brought transparency in the system.
The Gujarat Government has taken initiatives in e-governance with the help of IT to empower common man, he said, adding that because of Gujarat Government’s online grievance redressal programme known as ‘SWAGAT’, poor people’s problems are not only solved instantly but much needed transparency has also come in the State administration.
Not only for the poor but IT can be used to curb corruption too, he said, adding that just because his Government connected all the check posts with Gandhinagar using IT, collection of tax from Bhilad Check post along the Gujarat-Maharashtra border have increased by `400 crore. While in the case of Maharashtra, despite same numbers of vehicles passing through both the States, tax collection is much lower than that of Gujarat, he added.
Gujarat may have been not on top as far as software side of the IT sector is concerned, but in IT application, Gujarat is one of the few top States in the country, especially in e-governance side. He termed IT as turning point in last century, which brought radical changes in human development. Modi refrained from political comment; rather in lighter vein he said that his speeches and language were different in election campaign.
Tata Group’s chairman Cyrus Mistry said that TCS’s software park spread across 25 acres of land would generate job opportunities for nearly 10,000 people in the Gujarat’s capital.