Meghalaya favoured destination for IT related business:Jacob

Shillong, Mar 12 (UNI) The Meghalaya government has taken several initiatives to facilitate growth and development of Information Technology(IT), Governor M M Jacob today said.

Delivering his customary speech on the opening day of the budget session, Mr Jacob said steps had been initiated to make Meghalaya a favoured destination for IT related business, industries, education and services.

''An IT society has been established and registered for effective implementation of IT related ventures,'' the governor informed the 60-member House.

During this financial year, he said, computer learning centres for e-governance training programme in all the district headquarters will be completed.

Mr Jacob said training in IT enabled services and IT based Fashion Designing had been imparted and the IT park at Shillong will be functional in 2007.

The governor also said the activities of the GIS laboratory of the IT department were being strengthened by way of implementing GIS application related to road network, hazard zonation and disaster management.

''Incentives to IT entrepreneurs for setting up business in the IT park will be provided and hardware/software infrastructural augmented,'' Mr Jacob said.

The governor also informed that the establishment of the Data centre under the National Electronic Governance Programme, State Wide Area Network and Common Service will be taken up.

With the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mr Jacob said, the government had initiated the interventions for improving the quality of teaching in the elementary education sector for providing training inputs to teachers to equip them for classrooms activities.

He said the government will implement the Education Satellite (EDUSAT) project and 50 institutions have been identified for assistance under the project.

Mr Jacob said the IIM Shillong project has got the approval of the government of India recently.

The state government had allotted land for the permanent IIM campus at Mawdiandiang and the interim campus will function from Mayurbhanj Complex here, he asserted.

UNI