Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India)

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is an Indian government ministry. It contains three departments:

• Department of Telecommunications
• Department of Information Technology
• Department of Posts

The political head of the Ministry is a Cabinet Minister. The incumbent is Kapil Sibal. Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology are Sachin Pilot^[1] and Milind Deora.

Department of Telecommunications

Also known as the Door Sanchar Vibhag, this department concerns itself with policy, licensing and coordination matters relating to telegraphs, telephones, wireless, data, facsimile and telematic services and other like forms of communications. It also looks into the administration of laws with respect to any of the matters specified, namely:

• The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885)
• The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 (17 of 1933)
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997)

Public sector units

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
• Indian Telephone Industries Limited
• Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
• Telecommunications Consultants India Limited

R&D unit

• Center for Development of Telematics

Other units

• Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing
• Telecom Engineering Center
• Controller of Communication Accounts
• Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring Cells (formerly known as VTM Cells)

Department of Information Technology

• Promotion of Information Technology education and Information Technology-based education
• Matters relating to Cyber Laws, administration of the Information Technology Act 2000 (21 of 2000) and other IT-related laws
• Matters relating to promotion and manufacturing of semiconductor devices in the country excluding all matters relating to Semiconductor Complex Limited Mohali; the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design Act, 2000 (37 of 2000)
• Interaction in IT-related matters with international agencies and bodies, e. g., Internet for Business Limited, Institute for Education in Information Society and International Code Council-on line
• Initiative on bridging the Digital Divide: matters relating to Media Lab Asia
• Promotion of standardization, testing and quality in IT and standardization of procedures for IT applications and tasks
• Electronics Export and Computer Software Promotion Council
• National Informatics Centre
• Initiatives for development of hardware and software industries including knowledge-based enterprises, measures for promoting IT exports and competitiveness of the industry
• Efforts for increasing the acceptance of FOSS at a national level (NRCFOSS)

Education

• National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology

All Government Services to be At Your Mouse-tip

Citizens across 28 states of Indian Union will be able to avail all government services,including payment of utility bills and applying for a driving license,through common internet portals being developed as part of a Rs 2,000-Cr portal project. The government plans to develop portals for at least 10 states by October 2010 and the rest will follow .These state portals' services will range from getting a domicile or residence certificate all online. The forms will be available electronically. Citizen service center kiosks in rural areas will help the technological- challenged submit these forms online. The government plans to roll out almost 10,000 more CSC kiosks by December 2010, taking the total to 90,000.^[2]

Department of Posts

The Department of Posts (DoP) operates one of the oldest and most extensive mail services in the world, with about 26,000 full time and 1,300,000 part time post offices. It offers a whole range of products under posts, remittance, savings, insurance and philately. While the Director General is the head of operations, the Secretary is an adviser to the Minister. Both responsibilities are undertaken by one officer.

The DG is assisted by the Postal Services Board with three members: Member (Operations and Marketing), Member (Infrastructure and Financial Services) and Member (Personnel). Radhika Doraiswamy is the Secretary (Posts) and DG Posts as also the Chairman of the Postal Services Board. K. Noorjehan is the Member (O&M), Anju Dasgupta is the Member (I&FS), and R. K. Singh is the Member (Personnel). The national headquarters are at Delhi and functions from Dak Bhavan located at the junction of Parliament Street and Ashoka Road.

The annual revenue is around Rs. 4,500 Crores and expenditure is Rs. 5,800 Crores. Lack of proper investment in infrastructure and technology is the reason for such low revenue. The present top management has already started investing in latest technology to improve the infrastructure. Quality of service is being improved and new products are being offered to meet the competition.

The field services are managed by Postal Circles—generally conforming to each State—except for the North Eastern States. Army Postal Services {APS) is a unique arrangement to take care of the postal requirement of soldiers posted across the country. Department of Posts personnel are commissioned into the army to take care of APS.

The DoP is governed by the Indian Post Office Acts, 1898.

Other than the traditional postage service in order to keep up with the age many new services have been introduced by the department:

• e-Post - Delivery of email through post man where email service is not available
• e-BillPost - Convenient way to pay bills under one roof
• Postal Life insurance
• International money transfers
• Mutual funds
• Banking

References

External links

• Official website