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Tag: transparency

  • Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari has said that the ongoing digitization process would help in building transparency in the system

    Digitization to facilitate transparency: Manish Tewari

    Manish Tewari

    By A Correspondent

     

    Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari has said that the ongoing digitization process would help in building transparency in the system. As a mechanism it would also enable the growth of revenue models in the Broadcasting industry leading to the overall growth of the media and entertainment industry in the country. The process would also help broadcasters in identifying a balanced growth model through the increased share from the subscription revenues. 

     

    The minister stated this while delivering the keynote address at the Seema Nazareth Award function for excellence in print media.

     

    Elaborating further, the minister said that there was an urgent need for key stakeholders within the media to introspect in view of the trends that had emerged as a result of corrosive discourse on one side and responsible discourse on the other. Referring to the challenges that have emerged due to the social media, the minister said these tools had created an unprecedented potential to connect with target audience for the dissemination of news and information. The impact of this medium was so profound that it had also integrated with the print media in the dissemination mechanism. The changing paradigm in the media landscape had resulted in creating opportunities for the journalistic fraternity.

     

    Referring to the Seema Nazareth Award, Mr Tewari said that the institution of the award had provided an ideal platform to encourage and inspire young journalists in the print media. The minister conferred the award on Sushmi Dey and also gave two awards as a special mention to Shelly Walia and Debolina Sengupta. The Seema Nazareth Award has been instituted by Business Standard.

     

  • The government will introduce the Electronic Services Delivery Bill in the next session of Parliament, aiming to make public services available in e-mode over the next five years.

    IT use can bring transparency: Sibal

    By A Correspondent

    “Increased use of information technology will bring about transparency and accountability in the system,” minister for communications and information technology Kapil Sibal has said. Mr Sibal, inaugurating the 8th Assocham International Summit on e-Governance, added that the government would introduce the Electronic Services Delivery Bill in the next session of Parliament. This Bill is aimed at making public services available in only electronic mode in all State and Central government departments over the next five years.

    The scope of human intervention must be reduced with information and telecommunication technologies playing a lead role to curb corruption in public life and ensure good governance across the country, Mr Sibal added.

    He said that though the government is working on a new law to deal with the menace of corruption, only mass adoption of technologies for e-governance and m-governance can improve the quality and speed of public services delivered to citizens in urban and rural areas.

    “Much of the talk of corruption that we have had in the recent past will be dealt with through the initiative of IT. What we need to do is to ensure that the scope of human interface – which is the scope of all corruption – is excluded. IT should play an important role in finding solutions and we are in the process of doing it,” said Mr Sibal.

    By 2014, every gram panchayat in the country will be connected with fibre optic cables and the last mile connectivity will be with wireless broadband. The true empowerment of people is possible when government services are made available at the doorstep of every citizen – be it for tax returns, insurance premiums, banking operations or payment of e-bills, he remarked.

    Mr Dilip Modi, president of Assocham (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India), said digital inclusion is the critical pillar of the chamber’s agenda of making inclusive transformation happen.

     

    “E-governance can bridge the gap between deficits and surpluses in rural and urban India. With six lakh villages in the country, land records need to be digitised. We are quite bullish on the internet’s potential to provide fair transparent governance structures,” said Mr Modi.

    Mr Umang Das, chairman of the Assocham National e-Governance Council, said the concept offers a unique opportunity to move away from piecemeal reforms to an era of institutionalised transparency.

    India has 73 million internet subscribers and the figure is poised to grow to 275 million by 2015, according to Assocham.