Mobile Technology to be Used for Mass Vaccination: PM
NEW DELHI, Dec 8: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told the country that the government intended to use the mobile technology to systematically carry out the mass inoculation programme against the COVID-19 Pandemic. He also called upon the telecom industry to make India a global hub for telecom equipment, design, development and manufacturing and simultaneously suggested the industry to form a task force to think of a better way of handling the electronic waste and create a circular economy as the people had developed the habit of changing handsets and gadgets frequently due to quick technological upgradations.
Modi, who was addressing the virtual “India Mobile Congress (IMC), 2020,” the fourth in the series, through video conferencing, also urged industry to work together to ensure a timely roll-out of 5G to leapfrog into the future and empower millions of Indians.
The theme for IMC 2020 is “Inclusive Innovation – Smart, Secure, Sustainable”. It aims to align to the Prime Minister’s vision to promote ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’, ‘Digital Inclusivity’, and ‘Sustainable development, entrepreneurship & innovation’. It also aims to drive foreign and local investments, encourage R&D in the telecom and emerging technology sectors. India Mobile Congress is considered the largest digital technology event in India. The 3-day event is being attended by over 110 distinguished speakers from across the globe.
The Prime Minister said it is important to think and plan how to improve lives with the upcoming technology revolution. He added that Better healthcare, Better education, Better information and opportunities for our farmers, Better market access for small businesses are some of the goals that can be worked on.
The Prime Minister lauded the delegates from the telecom sector that the world was functional despite the pandemic due to their innovation and efforts. He added that due to their efforts that a son was connected with his mother in a different city, a student learnt from his teacher without being in the classroom, a patient consulted his doctor from his home and a trader connected with a consumer/ from a different geography.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction on achieving success in mobile manufacturing in India. He said India was emerging as one of the most preferred destinations for mobile manufacturing. He added the Production Linked Incentive scheme was introduced to promote telecom equipment manufacturing in India. He said the Government aimed to bring high speed fibre-optic connectivity in every village over the next three years. He added that greater spread of fixed line broadband connectivity and public Wi-Fi hotspots would be ensured.
Apart from the Prime Minister, the inaugural session was attended by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Sanjay Dhotre, the Minister of State for Communications, Education and Electronics & Information Technology, Anshu Prakash, Chairman DCC & Secretary (T), Department of Telecommunications, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited and Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.
Ravi Shankar Prasad said the digital technology and virtual communication tools have proved their extraordinary worth during challenging times of covid-19. The digital Technology had enabled the country to liberalise the work from home systems, for example 85% of IT operations are being worked from home. “India Mobile Congress is going to rejoice extraordinary excellence, it is the new milestone unfolding extraordinary opening for future, it is to create for the favourable ecosystem with mobile at the centre,” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
