The role of government in IT, as seen through our DQ awards

While Dataquest announced the next set of ICT awards, it was interesting to note how much the government played a role, through the past awards. N Vittal was the legendary Secretary of the Department of Electronics. At a time when there were no IT ministries, he was the one-man show for getting everything done. He won the IT Person of the Year in 1993.

In 1992 the nation was rocked by the Harshad Mehta stock market scam. The National Stock Exchange was soon set up. Its then MD Dr RH Patil was a strong proponent of automation and paperless procedures. He salvaged the stock market and was Pathbreaker of the Year in 1997. The then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who transformed IT in his state, was Pathbreaker of the Year 1998.

The 2000s

At that time the star at the national level was IT & communications minister Pramod Mahajan, who won the IT Person of the Year in 2001. IRCTC was Pathbreaker of the Year in 2004 and after two odd decades they have been going from strength to strength. Their online ticketing services have been a boon for citizens. In 2006, the government’s Project MCA – 21 was Pathbreaker of the Year. That was the e-governance initiative launched by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Project Bhoomi in Karnataka transformed the land record ecosystem in the state and they became Pathbreaker of the Year in 2007. In those days Karnataka was a clear leader in e-governance. After that the Satyam scandal rocked IT in India but that too was settled with Tech Mahindra finally took it over. In 2009, the Government-Appointed Board of Satyam was IT Person of the Year. In 2011, “Online Income Tax Return” became Pathbreaker of the Year. That was another step in digital governance.

Looking at the Pathbreaker of the Year. 2013: Aadhaar. 2015: PM Jan Dhan Yojana. 2017: NPCI. In a way we foreshadowed the JAM (Jan Dhan Aadhaar Mobile) trinity, which has transformed digital India, right down to the rural masses. In 2022 NPCI became our AtmaNirbhar Bharat Champion. NPCI’s UPI since has become the global leader when it comes to online payments.

In the last few years MeitY has gone on an overdrive and that also shows in the latest IT Person of the Year awards. In 2021 it was IT Secretary Ajay Sawhney, in 2023 it was Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar and in 2024 its Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways; Information and Broadcasting; and Electronics and Information Technology.
MeitY has been the biggest driver of IT in India and will continue to do so in the years to come.