By IANS,
Chennai : The government has decided to provide broadband connectivity to 5,000 schools and 20,000 colleges in rural and semi-urban areas to promote e-learning, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said here Saturday.
“We are holding discussions with the finance ministry to work out the modalities and the funding required for this project,” Pilot told reporters on the sidelines of an IT conference, jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Tamil Nadu government.
“With this connectivity, students of these institutions can have access to quality lectures as and when they need.”
Earlier, speaking at the conference, the minister urged the IT industry to diversify its export market as a strategy to tide over the economic crisis in the advanced economies.
Citing the growing demand for IT services in the domestic market, Pilot said IT-driven government services could make the life of the common man much easier.
“There are around 650,000 villages in the country and through IT the lives of villages could be bettered. The government is working on broadband connectivity for villages to deliver various services using IT,” he said.
Tamil Nadu Information Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna, who was present at the conference, said there was a need for separate funds for the state governments to develop softwares to offer e-governance services.