Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Digital India initiative at an event attended by government officials as well as industry leaders. The programme aims to make all citizens digitally literate and bring internet and e-governance to all sections of the society.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, described cyber-related risks as a global threat of “bloodless war,” and called upon the Nation’s IT community to serve the entire world by building credible cyber-security systems. He was speaking at the launch of the Digital India week in New Delhi 

The Prime Minister also exhorted the captains of India’s IT industry to boost production of electronic devices and goods in the country, as part of the “Make in India” initiative, to reduce dependence on imports.

Shri Narendra Modi noted that today, it was not enough for India to say that it is an ancient civilization, and a country of 125 crore with favourable demography. He said modern technology needs to be blended with these strengths.

The Prime Minister reiterated his Government’s resolve to not allow the Digital Divide to become a barrier between people. He outlined his vision of e-governance and mobile governance, where all important Government services are available on the mobile phone. “I dream of a digital India where High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation; 1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation; technology ensures the citizen-government interface is incorruptible,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said that earlier, India was criticized for launching satellites, but now it was recognized that these satellites help the common man, for instance, farmers through accurate weather forecasting. Similarly, the Prime Minister said, the Digital India initiative was aimed at improving the lives of the common man. He said that India may have missed the Industrial Revolution, but will not miss the IT revolution.

The Prime Minister assured full support to young entrepreneurs who wished to launch Start-ups. He called upon the youth to innovate and said “Design in India” is as important as “Make in India.”

The Prime Minister unveiled the “Digital India” logo and released policy documents related to Digital India. He also felicitated two women CSC village level entrepreneurs.

Union Ministers Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shri J. P. Nadda, Shri Thaavar Chand Gehlot, Shri Jual Oram, and Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman were present on the occasion.