Offering ‘Date Conncetivity’ for Human Empowerment Prez Kovind unveils Andhra Pradesh Fibre Grid Project

Amravati, December 28: Giving new opportunities to the people of Andhra in the field of the technological arena, President Ram Nath Kovind unveiled Andhra Pradesh Fibre Grid project to facilitate the availability of high-speed internet for all in the state at a nominal rate. 

Dedicating this project Prez Kovind said that “online, on-time and on the ball” using technology as the enabler. “In a 24×7 hyper-connected world, governments and administrations cannot afford to be reactive. They have to be online, on-time and on the ball. Technology is the enabler that allows this,” the President said in his address after inaugurating the project at the Secretariat.

 

The Fibre Grid project is aimed at providing high-speed internet service to every household in Andhra Pradesh at a nominal rate. It will also ensure that every household in the state has access to cable television and telephone connection. The state government said that after the project’s inauguration, fibre grid connections would be available to around one lakh households with 100 per cent connectivity in 55 villages.

“We are moving towards a paradigm where technology is not an optional add-on to governance but more or less drives modern governance,” he added.

 

Referring to the Andhra government’s ‘Real-Time Governance’ initiative, the President noted that such integration of technologies with the entire range of government responsibilities was worthy of appreciation.

Further President Kovind said that “This was extremely impressive and would go a long way in realising the dream of Digital AP within the wider framework of Digital India and, of course, the Government of India’s BharatNet project that is taking broadband connectivity to every gram panchayat,” the President said.

“Data connectivity is such a tool of human empowerment and of social change. We are moving towards a plug-and-play system where it will be the norm for houses and office spaces to configure with broadband connectivity,” Kovind said.

Underlining the “multiple benefits” of internet, Prez Kovind said that common citizens are finding uses for and benefits from using data access that “we could not have imagined”.

“Farmers and small producers in rural areas use Internet connectivity to contact buyers in distant locations and make themselves aware of the real value of their products,” Prez Kovind said. Similarly, digital classrooms and telemedicine could help people leapfrog traditional handicaps, he said.

“They can expand the circle of knowledge as well as make quality healthcare and diagnosis available even in distant places,” he said.

Later the President visited a photo exhibition on the proposed designs of government buildings, including the Legislature and the High Court complexes, that would come up in Amaravati. He also visited the Real-Time Governance Centre in the Block-1 of the Secretariat.