The Chhattisgarh Government has launched 'SKYHack 2018' in an effort to invite innovative minds to become a part of the collective effort in creating an app ecosystem to make a positive difference to more than 50 lakh lives, officials informed.
The State is providing youth a chance to explore and become a part of the thriving Start-up culture in the state, through its partner resources – incubators, accelerators and mentorship programs of 36Inc, officials informed.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh Sanchar Kranti Yojana (CG SKY) project is an initiative by the Government of Chhattisgarh to improve telecom penetration across the state and improve digital access among the people of state.
This is being done through telecom network augmentation and distribution of 50 lakh smartphones to identified beneficiaries in the state.
The state government envisions an equitable world where everyone in the state would have access to a stable mobile network and the means to connect to that network by the medium of a smartphone.
The CG-SKY does not stop at network augmentation and the distribution of smartphones – it goes well beyond that with the overarching goal of creating an ecosystem of enabling mobile applications that would help citizens live their lives better, access information about government schemes easily, connect with the government without any barriers and access G2C services seamlessly, officials stated.
This is also a step forward in the direction of good governance through data based policy formulation and delivery.
The state Government's preliminary assessment, indicates that urban areas, approximately 14,000 villages will come under network connectivity and approximately 50.8 lakh Smartphones will be distributed under its CG-SKY scheme.
The scheme would cover all villages and towns in the State of Chhattisgarh, except those villages having less than 1,000 population and not having connectivity. It may be noted that villages with less than 1,000 population, but having connectivity shall be considered for the CG-SKY, officials informed.
All Urban poor households in the state as identified by the concerned department are to be covered under the scheme. College Students as identified by concerned departments to the tune of approx. 5 lakh are to be covered under the scheme.
Under this scheme, one Smartphone is to be distributed to each beneficiary household and eligible College Student.