March 14, 2002
'11'
BROADCASTING AS VEHICLE FOR INTERNET PROVIDER SMT. SUSHMA SWARAJ WANTS INTERNET BENEFITS TO REACH THE POOREST
The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Sushma Swaraj has said that in India, the broadcasting can take up the role of Internet and multi service provider as it has got much more reach, especially in the rural and inaccessible areas as compared to the tele-communications. She said the enactment of the Convergence Bill, which had been introduced in the Parliament and is being studied by the Standing Committee, would facilitate the synergy in IT, Communications and Entertainment Sectors.
Addressing a meeting of the CII, here today, Smt. Swaraj said that suitable software packages in health, education, rural development etc. with content and local languages need to be prepared. Instead of creating a digital divide among the urban and rural people through the introduction of Internet, Smt. Swaraj said that the spread of Internet, rather be exploited to bridge the digital divide ensuring the fastest moving technology to percolate to the poorest and to the farthest corners of the country.
Hailing the Internet as real revolution in technology which has turned Personal Computer into ‘Personal Companion’ Smt. Swaraj said that a PC which has today become a Personal Assistant, a telephone, a post office, data bank and library, a typewriter, a fax, a TV, a radio and music deck and a business partner has totally changed the way of life. However, she cautioned that the application of this vital tool must not lead to problems like security consumers exploitation and cultural invasion. Th real challenge, therefore, is how to regulate this and get the best use of it.
The CEO of AOL Time Warner Group Mr. Gerald M. Levin delivered the key-note address on ‘The Internet: Infrastructure of Freedom’. The meeting was attended by the top media barons and industrialists and editors.