R Chandrashekhar: ICT

ICT in India today has become synonymous with R Chandrashekhar’s name. He took over the Department of Telecom during turbulent times but handled it very deftly. Taking cognisance of the need for a holistic policy framework spanning telecom, information technology and electronics he swiftly worked on a triad of policies to drive the national agenda for ICTE.

He has modified the USOF strategy to enable last-mile connectivity. This has resulted in creation of Bharat Broadband Network aiming to link 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats via optic fibre network. Being a believer in public-private-partnership (PPP) he has invited private players also to partner in this. Citizen centricity has been at the core of all that he does. It was under his direction that State Wide Area Networks and State Data Centres were set up that are being widely used to deliver citizen services. The MCA-21 project – stemmed from his vision of making company registration and tax filing completely seamless and paperless thus eliminating discretion from the system.