New IT Ministry of India

The union government has bifurcated the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoC&IT) in to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Ministry of Communications. President has approved these changes in Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961.

What was the earlier structure of the ministry before bifurcation?

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has been functioning since independence. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai was the first minister in-charge of this ministry (Term of office: 15 August 1947 to 2 August 1951). The Ministry was bifurcated in July 2016. In its earlier form, it contained three departments – Department of Telecommunications, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) and Department of Posts. The former Prime Ministers like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh were all the former ministers of communication.

What is the mandate of the new ministries?

What are the objectives of the new ministry?

• E-Government: Promotion of e-infrastructure for delivery of e-services.
• E-Industry: Promotion of electronics hardware manufacturing and IT-ITeS industry.
• E-Innovation /R&D: Implementation, creation of R&D framework and infrastructure in emerging areas of ICT&E.
• E-Learning: Support for development of e-skills and knowledge network.
• E-Security: securing India’s cyber space.
• E-Inclusion: Promotion of ICT for inclusive growth.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

The newly created Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will exclusively deal with the following:

• All matters related to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), promotion of internet and information technology, electronics and other related services other than licensing of Internet Service Providers comes under the ambit of the ministry. It will have complete jurisdiction over the UIDAI (issues Aadhaar number to all citizens) and National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has been placed under this ministry.
• The ministry administers Information Technology Act 2000, matters relating to Cyber Laws, and other IT related laws.
• It will provide assistance to other departments in the promotion of e-Governance, e-Commerce, e-Medicine etc.
• It would lead the ‘Initiative on bridging the Digital Divide: Matters relating to Media Lab Asia’.
• It would deal with the matters relating to promotion and manufacturing of Semiconductor Devices excluding the matters related to the Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), Mohali.
• It would deal with interaction in IT-related matters with international agencies like Internet for Business Limited (IFB), Institute for Education in Information Society and International Code Council (ICC).

 List of prominent organizations/companies/societies

Some of the prominent organizations/ companies/societies which come under the ambit of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology are:

Attached offices

• National Informatics centre (NIC)
• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
• Standardisation, Testing and Quality certification (STQC)

Statutory organizations

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (ICERT)
• Cyber Appellate Tribunal (CAT)
• Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA)

Companies

• National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)
• National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI, public sector enterprise under the control of NIC)
• Media Lab Asia

Autonomous societies

• Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)
• Education and Research in Computer Networking (ERNET)
• National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT)
• Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)
• Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER)
• Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET)

Advisory councils/committees

• International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)
• Information Security Technology Development Council/Working Groups (ISTDC/WGs)

Ministry of Communications

• Ministry of communications will have two departments under its control– Department of Telecommunications and Department of Posts.
• The Ministry of Communications will be headed by the Minister of State for Communications (Independent Charge).

Department of Telecommunications

Department of Telecommunication deals with policy, licensing and coordination of matters related to telegraphs, telephones, facsimile and other forms of communication. It also administers laws with respect to the following:

• The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
• The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1940.
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.

List of prominent organizations/companies/societies

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.
• Indian Telephone Industries Limited.
• Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited.
• Centre for Development of Telematics.
• Telecommunications Consultants India Limited.
• Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells.

Department of Posts

Department of Posts (DoP) is governed by the Indian Post Office Acts, 1898. The Department of Posts (DoP) takes care of the postal service which is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. In addition, the department provides services like e-Post, Postal Life Insurance, Mutual funds, Banking, International money transfer etc.