NOTIFICATION : APPOINTMENT OF TASK FORCE
ANNEXURE

New Delhi, dated 22-5-1998

Subject : Appointment of a National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development

Government has decided to constitute a National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development to formulate the draft of a National Informatics Policy with the following composition

Chairperson
Shri Jaswant Singh, Deputy Chairperson, Planning Commission
Co-Chairpersons
Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
Dr. M.G.K. Menon, Former Union Minister of State, Science & Technology

Members :

Dr. N. Seshagiri Director General, National Informatics Centre 

Member-Convener 

Shri N. Vittal Chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board, Former Secretary, Department of Electronics and Chairman, Telecom Commission
Shri A.V. Gokak Chairman, Telecom Commission
Shri R. Gupta Secretary, Department of Electronics
Shri P.G. Mankad Secretary, Ministry of I&B
Shri T.H. Chowdary Former CMD of VSNL and Informtion Technology, Adviser to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
Dr. P.V. Indiresan Former Director, IIT, Chennai
Shri Dewang Mehta Executive Director, National Association of Software Companies (NASSCOM)
Shri N.R. Narayana Murthy Chairman & Managing Director, Infosys
Shri Ashok Soota President, WIPRO Computers
Shri Rajendra Pawar Vice Chairman and MD, NIIT
Dr. Y.S. Rajan Senior Adviser (Technology), CII
Shri Ravi Parthasarathy Managing Director, Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services (ILFS)
Shri Anil Bakht IT professional
Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni Director (Communications and Research), PMO

The tasks and terms of reference of the Task Force are given in the Annexure.
 

 

 

The Task Force will be guided by an "IT Vision Group" consisting of eminent IT professionals, academics, civil servants (serving or retired), businessmen, political leaders and prominent IT Professionals from abroad - both NRIs and foreigners.

The Task Force may with the permission of the Chairperson, co-opt or invite as many persons, including officials of relevant Government departments, as it may deem appropriate in the course of its deliberations.

The Task Force will be covered within the definition/explanation of High Level Commissions/Committees as given in Cabinet Secretariat O.M. No. 105/1/1/75-CF dated 20.11.75.

Secretarial assistance to the Task Force will be provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Planning Commission.

The TA/DA of official members shall be borne by their parent Departments. The TA/DA of non-official members (as admissible to Grade I officers of the highest category in Government of India) shall be paid by the National Informatics Centre, Planning Commission.

The Task Force will complete its work and submit its final report to the Prime Minister within 90 days.
 

(T.K.A. Nair)
Secretary to the Prime Minister

The various tasks of the National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development are as follows :

• This Task Force will formulate the draft National Policy on Informatics whose aim will be to enable India to emerge as an Information Technology superpower within the next ten years. It will submit the draft policy to the Prime Minister in three months.

• The Task Force will recommend an appropriate empowered institutional mechanism to implement this policy as a national mission with the participation of the Central and State Governments,industry, academic institutions, and the society at large.

• This Task Force will recommend, within one month, immediate steps that the Government needs to take to remove bottlenecks and give a big boost to India's Information Technology industry.

• This Task Force will prepare a Vision Statement that will excite and energize the people of India,creating the faith in them that Information Technology vitally aids personal growth and national growth. It will also suggest a strategy for the effective articulation and dissemination of that Vision, so as to create an ethos, an ambience, a mindset, and a work culture consistent with the needs of the emerging knowledge-driven global civilisation.

• This Task Force will prepare a blue print for making the adoption of Information Technology into a national movement, with a wide network of empowered task forces at all governmental and non-governmental levels. 

The terms of reference of the National Task Force on Information Technology and Software

Development are as follows :
 

 
1. Recommend a strategy for the extensive use of Information Technology in all areas of national economy - agriculture, industry, trade and services - as a critical input in making India a global economic power.
2. Prepare the design for building a world-class physical, institutional and regulatory IT infrastructure,which is appropriate for India. This design will embrace the growing convergence of telecommunications, computers, consumer electronics and the media infrastructure (minus its content).
3. Towards this end, determine the means for creating a National Informatics Infrastructure (NII) backbone, bridging it to the Local Informatics Infrastructure (LII) and the Global Informatics Infrastructure (GII). The design of the NII will be dynamic, taking into account the rapidly changing nature of Information Technology.
4. Recommend how NII can be created at an optimal cost by using the existing resources of the various wings of Government such as the Department of Telecommunications, Prasar Bharati, Railways, Power Grid Corporation of India, etc.
5. Suggest measures for achieving a massive expansion in the use of the Internet by all sections of society, especially in business and education, and development of Indian content on the Internet.
6. Recommend a strategy for boosting the learning and use of Information Technology in Indian languages. the policy will suggest measures to promote the development of software, especially educational and commercial software, in Indian languages.
7. Develop a strategy for a twenty-fold increase in India's software and other IT service exports in the next ten years. In particular, the Policy will focus on the development of world-class software products and brands that can quickly establish global dominance.
8. Suggest measures to catalyze the growth of exports through the extensive use of -Commerce and EDI(Electronic Data Interchange).
9. Suggest ways in which the use of IT can be maximised in the Government at all levels, so as to maks its functioning people-friendly, transparent and accountable.
10. Develop a strategy for dramatically increasing the PC density in the country and, to that end, ensure that every household and commercial establishments that has a telephone also has a computer. The strategy will aim to facilitate the availability of computer hardware, software and connectivity at the lowest possible cost.
11. Device a strategy for establishing a strong and internationally competitive domestic manufacturing base for computers, computer components and peripherals.
12. Design a training and manpower development plan involving Government agencies, private business, voluntary organizations, educational institutions and others to quadruple the number of IT professionals in the country in the next two years. The Task Force will suggest a plan to implement the commitment made in the National Agenda for Governance to ensure universal computer literacy in all secondary schools in the country. The plan will also aim at making available IT education to all those sections of the economy where it serves as a productivity multiplier.
13. Develop a strategic plan to raise the necessary financial resources to realise the 


objectives of the National Informatics Policy. This plan will rely on innovative means of funding that minimise government outlay.

14. Suggest an appropriate legal frame work for the creation of an IT-based society, with 


due focus on intellectual property rights (IPR), secrecy, security and safety of information.

15. Recommend how India can leverage its global competitiveness in InfoTech to play a prominent role in the development of IT in other countries, especially those that are underdeveloped.