Amidst pandemic, technology ensured uninterrupted governance: MeitY Secretary Ajay Sawhney

Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, said on Friday that the Indian IT industry showcased its best potential and offered highly innovative solutions to ensure the continuation of governance with utmost efficiency during these highly unprecedented times.

The MeitY Secretary addressed a webinar organized by the Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI).

On Manufacturing

He said there was a pressing need to step up the manufacturing of both software and hardware products. This would help reduce dependence on imports from different countries. “Entrepreneurs and companies need to move aggressively in this area. The National Policy on Software Products has triggered significant growth. We expect the software potential as a major area of growth in the next 5-10 years,” he added.

On electronics manufacturing, Sawhney said, “The pandemic has slowed us down, but our ambition today is to grow more than 25% YoY over the coming five years or more. With PLI Scheme, many eminent brands have set up their units in recent times. We are committed to providing incentives to components manufacturing as these components make their way into a large array of products”. He also talked about building Digital Products. He opined the need to integrate digital technologies into traditional sectors. These included energy, transportation manufacturing, healthcare, etc. He further said, “The advent of digital technologies into each of these traditional sectors will help make 10-15% of growth a distinct possibility.”

On E-Governance

Sawhney said that Indian IT Industry has rapidly adjusted to the new environment. He added that the Aarogya Setu has reinvented itself as Vaccine Passport. It has the possibility to leverage wide reach to bring more health services; to become a citizen-facing front-end with the development of the National Digital Health Mission. He also mentioned that the government is working on a national scale and with National Public Digital Platforms. This will spread to Education, Healthcare, Smart Cities, Urban Governance, and other sectors. On 5G, Sawhney added, “While we move from 4G to 5G, we have to strengthen and work on related devices like IOTs. We need to strengthen our digital infrastructure needs with Digital India Infoway creating a robust network in Research and Development institutions.”

On IT laws, he further added, “While we have to focus on Data Privacy Bill, there is also a requirement to refresh the existing IT Act, 2008. The issues that we deal with IT sector have changed significantly; the companies that we deal with have brought immensely in terms of innovation. As we strengthen our cybersecurity, the next thing would be to come up with a legal framework”.

Virat Bhatia, Vice President, PAFI & MD, Apple India presented opening remarks. Deepak Maheshwari, CEO of, PAFI gave a vote of thanks during the PAFI Dialogue.