Arunachal Pradesh: 9 govt hospitals to be upgraded to e-hospitals

Itanagar: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has announced that nine existing government hospitals in the state would be upgraded to e-hospitals besides establishing a full-fledged center of governance National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) at Itanagar.

The minister recently said that 200 plus hospitals across the country have been turned into e-hospitals and assured the Center's full support in making nine hospitals - across Arunachal Pradesh - as e-hospitals.

He directed National Informatics Center (NIC) to fast-track the procedure and sought active support of the state government.

Lauding the state government for its initiatives to make governance digital, Prasad emphasised the importance of information technology in transforming the way of life and governance for the poor.

"India's Talent - IT - plus Information Technology - IT is equal to India Tomorrow - IT!" he said.

Reiterating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to developing North East at par with other states, Prasad said India cannot develop if Northeastern states are not developed.

The Union Minister, however, regretted that implementation of Common Service Centers (CSCs) in the state is poor and urged the state government to increase the presence of CSCs, especially at the gram panchayat levels manifold.

He pointed that CSCs, if established in every gram panchayat, would transform rural economy and take central and state government schemes to the grass root. He informed that around 10 lakh people are engaged in running CSCs across the country and 45 thousand of them are women.

Prasad also emphasised on the BPO sector and suggested the establishment of call centers as is being done successfully in Kohima.

"We are stressing on BPO in small cities and one has been allotted to Arunachal Pradesh. I would like the state government to give this sector a push as I see immense potential in the state," he said while appreciating the tech-savvy and multilingual youths of the state.

Prasad also assured support to improve a robust digital connectivity in the state and said, "In the land of the rising sun, digital darkness has no place."

The Union Minister was speaking at a ceremony here after laying the foundation of a Software Technology Park of India (STPI) at Itanagar and inaugurating the NIELET extension center at Tezu.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, also spoke on the occasion.

While Khandu sought constant support from the Center in a realisation of the Digital Arunachal Mission, Mein drew the attention of the Union Minister towards connectivity issues and its impact on the successful implementation of GST regime in the state. Also present were Cabinet Minister Dr Mahesh Chai and capital legislator TechiKaso and Ziro legislator Tage Taki.