The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh along with the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Shri Conrad K. Sangma, the Minister for IT and Communications, Meghalaya, Shri Hamletson Dohling, the Secretary, DARPG, Shri K. Eapen, the Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney and other dignitaries at the 22nd National Conference on e-Governance 2019 (NCeG), in Shillong, Meghalaya on August 08, 2019.

22^nd National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) 20129 was held in Shilliong on Thursday. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Departments of Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the programme. This is the first time the ivent was scheduled in North East region, in Shillong, Meghalaya. Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Shri Conrad K. Sangma also presided over the event as Chief Guest. The Conference is being attended by senior government officers from across India, researchers and eminent personalities from IT industry.

Addressing the Inaugural session of the Conference, Dr. Jitendra Singh congratulated the State Government of Meghalaya for organizing such a elaborate and successful National Conference on e-Governance. 28 states and all Union Territories have participated in this Conference, which itself is a testimony of the commitment shown by state Governments across the country towards e-Governance, he said. He proposed that the Conference adopts a ‘Shillong Declaration on e-Governance’ so that the importance takeaways from the sessions may be referred to and developed upon, in the future.

Highlighting the importance of the citizen-centric approach in service delivery, Dr. Singh said that after the current Government first came into power in 2014, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, in his early speeches, had urged to move beyond Vigyan Bhawan. He said, “We at DARPG have been religiously following PM’s vision and holding this Conference across the country. The PM had earlier defined e-governance as easy, effective, economical and environmental-friendly governance. The ease of governance would only be possible by ‘Minimum Government and Maximum Governance’.” Government of India, under the leadership of Shri Modi, has been focussing on this aspect especially in the remotest corners of the country, Dr. Singh added.