Rashtrapati Bhavan becomes wi-fi-enabled

NEW DELHI: President of India Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated 24 hot spots with 30 wi-fi access points in the President’s Estate.

The President said "India is at the 89th position in Network Readiness Index. Countries like Singapore, Finland and Sweden are leaders in this index. He called upon concerned authorities to ensure availability of infrastructure for Internet and ICT-enabled services across the country and use it in a systematic manner."

He said wi-fi services could be rolled out in public places across the country, both in urban and rural India.

The President said India, with 244 million, ranks third after China and USA in terms of number of Internet users. However, the penetration of Internet use as a percentage of the population is only 20%, indicating not only a huge gap but significant potential for future growth as well.

With 960 million mobile phones today, India stands second in the world behind China and soon it is expected to become one billion mobile phones country. We have more than 77 mobile phone connections per 100 citizens, which is commendable in terms of the penetration achieved by us in mobile telephony.

The President said the government has launched many programs for the benefit of the common man. Substantial investment in terms of money and effort go into making policies, schemes and programs aimed at eradication of poverty and other socio-economic ills.

Yet, in the absence or poor presence of an effective communication strategy, a large segment of the intended beneficiary population remains unaware of the various benefits they are entitled to.

Many a times, it becomes difficult to ensure that the government policies and programs reach the general population in various parts of the country. In this context, the idea of bringing information to the doorsteps of citizens through network is a revolutionary step to transform India to a Digital India.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology and R S Sharma, Secretary, DeitY were also present on the occasion.