Minister of State for Information Technology and Science & Technology, Feroz Ahmed Khan today flagged- off the “Digtal Literacy Yatra and Khidmat-e-Tohfa” in collaboration with Intel Partner at SKICC, as a part of the citizen Literacy Programme, initiative aimed at the youth of the State for imparting technology literacy skills thereby enhancing their employability opportunities.Commissioner Secretary, Information Technology, Science and Technology, Bipul Pathak, Director Strategic Initiatives and PBJ, Intel South Asia, Rajiv Bhalla, Addl. Chief Executive officer Jammu and Kashmir e-governance Agency (JAKEGA) Dara Singh and large number of youth were present on the occasion.
Addressing the function on the occasion, the Minister said that Digital Literacy Yatra features a mobile Lab which will traverse the State and reach the youth within the age group of 16-25 years across five districts. He said that the participants will be selected through a competitive process and trained on making a local small scale business successful. The mobile lab will include laptop for hands-on training and will be a direct access point for the youth of various far-flung areas of these districts of the State.Mr. Khan said that Khidmat Centre Facilitators will be trained on Intel ( R ) Learn Technology and Entrepreneurship to develop the capacity to design entrepreneurial activities with ICT that allow inpidual students to learn with practical orientation so that students can develop their potential to the fullest.
Commissioner Secretary Information Technology, Science and Technologywhile giving resume of the department said that JAKEGA is touching new hights of progress since last couple of years in the field of educationand in routine chores like appearing for on-line exams, competitive exams and on-line tutoring, making it a pre-condition for us to nurture a talent pool capable of utilizing and developing this changing world of technology. He said that various new IT projects have been sanctioned by Central Government for J&K State which include Visitor Management System for Civil Secretariat both at Jammu and Sringar, Wi-fi enablement, e-provision project, Android based project system for border areas and now in PDD, PHE and PWD also. Besides he said, the G2c services will be launched by the end of this year.
Director Intel in his address said that the Intel believes in digital literacy which is one of the most critical aspect to enhance our national competitivenes and expand the talent pool. He said it is imperative to devise initiatives that focus towards helping the youth to develop skill sets to succeed across domains. He said understanding technology can open access to a wide range of opportunities for inpiduals and our aim is to help the youth explore their opportunity.