Develop ideas to integrate IT with communication: Suresh Prabhu

Develop ideas to integrate IT with communication: Suresh Prabhu

Panaji: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday urged the information technology sector to integrate IT with communication to make it CIT to resolve many unique problems of Indian society.

Addressing the concluding session of Elets Knowledge Exchange, Goa – an IT industry and Government of Goa event – Prabhu asked the IT sector to find out ways to eradicate illiteracy and make people of the country digitally literate.

“I want to integrate the railways to make it possible to track trains on a real-time basis,”

Prabhu said. “I also want all commercial transactions to be web-based.”

He said the IT companies should develop high-end products lamenting that “we do not have enough branded products”.

Answering a question at the closing session, he said that “Swachh Bharat” in the Railways cannot be done in a day. He asked corporates and non- governmental organisations to adopt railway stations to back the soon-to-be launched “Swachh Railways Swachh Bharat” initiative.

He said that encroachment of railway land close to tracks is a big problem but added that “you should understand socio-economic implications of the issue.”

Prabhu said the Railways will introduce Wi-Fi on a revenue sharing basis. “Bids are already in process,” the minister said.