It would result in an employment opportunity for over one crore people by 2012 – 28,000 direct employment and 78,000 indirect employment.

Another step in this direction is the draft Indian Post Offices Bill-2011 which envisages to fully computerize 155,000 post offices across the country for delivering a host of retail services like banking, financial and e-commerce and become a hub for social security payment through digital network.

It is also envisaged to set up the Postal Bank of India for which a detailed project report will be finalized within six months. Coupled with other financial services like micro remittance, micro insurance and micro pensions, postal bank of India will help to achieve the goal of financial inclusion in India.

The Bill aims to open the Indian postal market with 50 gm privilege to India Post for a maximum of 15 years, registration of couriers by an independent registration authority and USO of postal sector to be borne wholly by the Government. Discussions with stakeholders like courier service providers, industry bodies and government agencies is underway.

“Commercialization of postal network in India will ensure that a large number of financial, insurance and physical goods and services are delivered to the common man though India Post, particularly in rural areas,” said the Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology and HRD, Kapil Sibal while addressing the Economic Editors’ Conference-2011 here on Thursday.

The Minister stressed the need for setting up of the National Knowledge Network where every university and academic institutions will be connected and inter-connected through broadband as a first step and the speed should be improved. Fibre optics will be laid to connect all gram panchayats (local rural self governments) in the country.

He said that India has a large dividend of young people, but the immediate need was for developed appropriate skills. National Occupational Standards is being drafted and the Government expects that by 2020 about 500 million people will be trained in appropriate skills.

Sibal cautioned that electronics manufacturing units need to upgrade itself to meet the demand-supply gap of $ 300 billion by 2020. “The key objectives of National Policy on Electronics Manufacturing is to achieve by 2020, turnover of $400 billion involving an investment of $ 100 billion, employment of 28 million, turnover of $ 55 billion in chip design and embedded software industry and to achieve a turnover of $ 80 billion in exports from this sector, setting up of 200 electronics manufacturing hub and 2500 PhDs per annum,” he said and added that skilled workforce was necessary to drive the knowledge revolution in the country.

The Union Ministry for Communications and Information Technology has also drafted two other policies – National Policy on Telecom and National Policy on Information Technology. The triad of policies is to drive the growth of ICTE agenda in the country and will be presented before the Union Cabinet for approval.

The Union Cabinet has recently approved IT Modernization Project which essentially involves computerization and networking of 155,000 post offices, core banking solution for Anytime Anywhere Banking through post offices with ATM facility, delivery of banking, insurance and mailing services in rural areas through hand held device.

The National Policy on Telecom is designed to increase rural tele-density from the current level of around 35 to 60 by the year 2017 and 100 by 2010, provide affordable and reliable broadband on demand by the year 2015 and to achieve 175 million broadband connections by 2017 and 600 million by the year 2020 at minimum download speed of 2 MBPS and making available higher speed of at least 100 MBPS on demand.

It has also proposes to provide high speed and high quality broadband access to all village panchayats through optical fiber by 2014, to meet 80% Indian telecom sector demand through domestic manufacturing with a value addition of 65% by 2020, strive to create one nation –one license across services and service areas, achieve One nation – Full Mobile Number Portability and to work towards One Nation – Free Roaming, to reposition the Mobile Phone from a mere communication device to an instrument of empowerment and to recognize telecom and broadband connectivity as a basic necessity like education and health and work towards ‘Right to Broadband’

It has proposed delinking the licensing of networks from the delivery of services to the end users to facilitate faster roll out of services, delinking spectrum in respect of all future licenses and to frame appropriate Exit Policy for the licensees.

The National Policy on Electronics Manufacturing-2011 has proposed to increase revenues of IT and ITeS industry from $ 88 billion at present to $ 300 billion by 2020, to increase exports from the IT industry from $ 55 billion at present to $ 200 billion by 2020, to create a pool of 10 million additional skilled manpower in ICT, to ensure mandatory and affordable access to delivery of public services to the common man, to leverage the usage of ICT in key social sectors like education, health, rural development and financial services to ensure inclusive growth and to establish a regulatory and security framework for secure cyberspace.