Governments should focus on Digital Revolution: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu

Nellore, Sep 1: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu suggested to both Centre and State governments to focus on connectivity revolution irrespective of other issues. He flagged off intercity express between Gudur and Vijayawada at Gudur Railway Station on Sunday along with Union Ministers Suresh Angadi, G Kishan Reddy and others and said digital technology brings a new era in the development that thwarts corruption and delay in transactions. The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) which is meant for transferring the benefits to various beneficiaries of government programmes is virtue of this digital revolution where 36 Cr people are getting the benefit of around 400 schemes, he said.

He also said connectivity should be Mantra of the Government which former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee started the revolution ago and still we must focus on it. Future of the nation only with the digital advancement which has been started as part of Digital India campaign by the government to ensure services are made available to the citizens online which requires internet connectivity, he added.

The Vice President also said many entrepreneurs are coming forward to invest in Andhra Pradesh and the infrastructure should be improved in terms of land, round-the-clock power supply, water that includes huge connectivity.

"Graft-free environment coupled with transparent governance is possible with online transactions. The benefits from the Government should reach the beneficiary without any barriers that give scope for corruption. The Estonian model a popular across the globe in the digital revolution which has population only 12 lakhs where 99 pc services are online. This should be replicated in India for more benefits to the poor and needy avoiding role of mediators," said Venkaiah Naidu.

He said around 2.50 lakh Gram Panchayats in India are now being digitally connected via optical fibre. He mentioned amount the issue of 8 Cr ghost beneficiary across the Country and such issues can be solved with increased connectivity of various sectors digitally.

The Vice President of India said the train services between Gudur and Vijayawada would give scope for quick completion of works in the capital city and also saves money to the visitors. He said the bullet train is the next project of India and the recent introduction of Vande Bharat express, the semi high-speed train has been designed as part of Make in India.

Minister of State for Railways Suresh C Angadi said that the Indian Railways has been focusing on the safety of passengers, cleanliness in coaches in statin environs, and punctuality. He also said they are going to implementing plastic ban shortly in Railways.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, MPs Adala Prabhakar Reddy, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, B Durga Prasad Rao, AP irrigation Minister P Anil Kumar, BJP State President K Lakshminarayana, Gudur MLA V Varaprasada Rao, and CMD of RVNL Pradeep Gaur and others were present.