IT, communications powerful development tools: Sibal
Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 19:31 IST
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New Delhi: Information and communication technologies (ICT) are powerful tools of development and can help eradicate poverty, achieve universal primary education and reduce child mortality, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said. "I strongly believe that ICT could be a powerful tool of development and poverty reduction through empowerment of masses, and of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," said Sibal at the opening session of World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. Sibal emphasised the importance of embedding ICT in the overall scheme of governance and public services for achieving the MDGs declared by the United Nations. While ICT-enabled public service delivery systems leads to better targeting and empowerment of common man through timely information for making key decisions, it increases the reach of trained teachers through distance learning programs, he said. Sibal said that through ICT, the government can deliver educational and literacy programmes specifically targeted to poor girls and women using appropriate technologies. It also helps in eradicating health related problems such as malaria, AIDS, apart from reducing child mortality and improving maternal health through telemedicine and information dissemination, he added.
Source: IANS
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