One Wi-Fi zone in all 6,078 gram panchayats within two years, broadband to every household, 4G services in every village in the next three years, making MSME the growth engine and a lot more has been envisaged in the draft Haryana IT and ESDM Policy-2016.

Haryana Government has prepared draft Haryana IT and ESDM Policy-2016 to develop Information Technology (IT) and Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sectors over five years as key growth drivers for realising the state’s vision set under the Enterprises Promotion Policy-2015.

The draft policy had been crafted to make Haryana a clear destination for investment in the IT and ESDM sectors, a recognised leader in the availability of high-quality talent pool, and make these sectors key enablers of equitable growth to spread prosperity and development across the state, said an official spokesman.

Various goals for digital governance have been defined under the draft policy, including state-wide digital network in each gram panchayat of Haryana under the National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN) project by 2017, and Wi-Fi zone in all gram panchayats, at important public places in all towns and cities and public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Under this, the Government aims to develop at least one Wi-Fi zone in all 6,078 gram panchayats within two years, besides providing broadband to every household and Wi-Fi zone at important public places in all towns and cities of Haryana, connecting all state-run schools with broadband and providing Wi-Fi, and ensuring universal phone connectivity and providing 4G services in every village in the next three years, said the spokesman.

He said that the government also aimed to connect all government offices with district headquarters and sub-districts with high speed OFC connectivity to bridge the digital divide between the urban and rural parts of the state.

The policy also seeks to develop Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as growth engine of the economy, besides fostering the culture of excellence in pioneering research, innovation and entrepreneurship, and making technology the enabler for doorstep delivery of citizen-centric services.

The five-year goal of the draft policy includes generation of employment for 15 lakh persons in the IT-ESDM sector by 2020, increasing the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state from 9.4 per cent to 15 per cent, and making Haryana pioneer in research and development for ESDM by producing 1,000 patents, the spokesman said.

He said that the five-year goal also includes promotion of equitable development across the state with 25 per cent increase in contribution of tier II and III cities to the state’s workforce in the IT-ESDM sector, development of six greenfield clusters in the state as ESDM hubs, making Gurugram the Animation, Visual effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) hub of north India, and increasing the contribution of AVGC to the sector by 15 per cent.

The draft policy also aims to target 20 per cent increase in the contribution of MSMEs to the state’s IT and ESDM exports over the next five years and making delivery of citizen services efficient, effective and equitable, using technology as a key enabler, he added.

The spokesman said that the policy would come into effect on the date of its notification in the official gazette of the Haryana Government and remain in force till it is amended or superseded by the government.

Under the draft policy, provision has been made for various financial incentives, simplified regulatory regime and infrastructure augmentation for different categories such as IT and ITeS, ESDM, Startups, MSME, AVGC, backward and most backward regions and digital governance.

The spokesman added that the government has also set a target to deliver 75 per cent of the services using Mobile Service Delivery Platform in next three years, besides establishing one Common Service Centre in each Gram Panchayat by 2017 and further strengthening these centres to streamline the delivery of G2C services and enable effective, efficient and equitable regime of service delivery.

Source: Daily Pioneer