National News- Orientation Workshop for Traders to encourage Digital Literacy and enabling of ICT Services

New Delhi, September 12, 2013: The Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India in partnership with Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the apex body of the trading community of the Country, has decided to sensitise the trading community of the country and encourage the traders to use Information Communication Technology services in their existing trades, besides upgrading their skills.

To begin a joint initiative by way of an Orientation Workshop for Traders to encourage Digital Literacy and enabling of ICT Services is being organised on September 18 at New Delhi. The Union Minister for IT & Communication, Kapil Sibal has been requested to inaugurate the workshop which will be also addressed by Secretary IT and other senior officials of the Ministry.

Dr. Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Managing Director, National Institute of Electronics & Information (NIELIT), Ministry of IT & Communication and Praveen Khandelwal, National Secretary General, CAIT addressed the press conference. Basab Dasgupta, Deputy Director, NIELIT, CAIT Delhi State President Ramesh Khanna, Chairman Narender Madan, Delhi General Secretary Vijay Pal and Rajesh Goyal, Chairman of E-Governance Committee of CAIT and Virender Gehlot, Research Fellow, CAIT were present at the press conference.

The government is emphasising the need of e-Governance in administration and taxation system, therefore the issue regarding adoption of appropriate skills and technologies among the business community needs to be addressed. As per an estimate so far only about 12% traders across the country have adopted computerisation in their existing business format. 

In such a scenario, effective steps are required to encourage the vast Indian retail trade sector to adopt IT literacy programmes. More than 5 crore business enterprises are working in unorganised sector which contributes about 15% to GDP with an average annual growth of about 15%. The adoption of IT skills will not only upgrade and modernise the retail trade but shall benefit the country in terms of the national economy.

The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), being the nodal department of the government for furthering the cause of computerisation and IT literacy in the country, in association with CAIT, is working towards promoting the said initiative. The Deity is in the process of drawing up suitable pilot programs for rolling out Retail Management System with appropriate levels of contribution from CAIT, through a nominal user charge to be identified by CAIT in consultation with its members. Very soon a comprehensive program will be developed for imparting IT technology education among traders across the country.

This Workshop is being organised by the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), a 100% owned organization of DeitY, engaged in the development of qualified human resources in the areas of IT; Electronics; Communication technologies; Hardware; Cyber Law; Cyber Security; IPR; GIS; Cloud Computing; e-Governance; and related verticals. NIELIT also has vast experience in conducting online examinations and third party assessments in skill and employment related courses and also offers IT Literacy courses for the masses. The immensely popular NIELIT CCC (Course on Computer Concept) and BCC (Basic Computer Course) programs are designed to equip a person to use computers for day-to-day use. As on date more than 10 lakh candidates have opted for these programmes. 

For the ensuing workshop, three sessions have been planned which would address issues related to (a) e-Governance initiatives for Traders including development of Retail Management System; (b) Skill Development initiatives by Deity; and (c) Enabling Digital Literacy for Traders through NIELIT’s IT Literacy programs. A special provision has been made available at the NIELIT Website (www.nielit.in) wherein the participants from the trading community can register themselves for the Workshop by following the simple steps provided therein.

It is expected that one of the outcomes of the Workshop, which is being conducted jointly by NIELIT and CAIT, on behalf of DeitY, would be to encourage the trading community for upgrading their skills through NIELIT IT Literacy programs. In this regard, CAIT is impressing upon its members to proactively participate in such initiatives and obtain the NIELIT certification. A proposal for rolling out training programs in IT Literacy, specifically for the trading community, with the financial support from the Government, shall also be explored.