Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 712/16

MR. D.P WAHLANG, IAS GETS DIGITAL INDIA LEADERSHIP AWARD

e-Governance in Meghalaya was bestowed with another feather on its cap when Mr. D. P. Wahlang IAS, Commissioner & Secretary, Information Technology & Communications Department, Government of Meghalaya was awarded the SKOCH-NeGD Digital India “Leadership Award” 2016. The award is in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards e-Governance initiatives including Digital Infrastructure, Digital Class Rooms, Digital Campaign, Digital Literacy & Cyber Security Awareness amongst citizens. While giving away the award, the sponsors have also cited major contributions made by Mr. Wahlang to the state of Meghalaya. These include building IT infrastructures like the State Wide Area Network (SWAN), the State Data Center (SDC), the State Portal & setting up Rainbow Common Service Centres for citizens. Based on these infrastructures, Mr. Wahlang pushed for the implementation of projects like e-District where citizens can apply on-line for services like ST/SC, PRC etc. and also receive their digitally signed certificates on-line. Other projects being implemented by him include the Teachers’ Information Management System which will streamline the way school & college teachers of the state are motivated, monitored and managed. These initiatives have impressed the jury who recognized Mr. Wahlang as the Digital India Leader. It is heartening to note that while Mr. Wahlang was the lone recipient of the Digital India “Leadership Award” in the country, another state official Mr. Demann Jyrwa, Superintendent of Police, State Crime Records Bureau, is one amongst five recipients of the Digital India “Champion Award”. Mr. Jyrwa was awarded for his initiative in building a website for citizens to lodge complaints to the Police under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems (CCTNS). The Awards were announced at a gala event held at New Delhi on 15th December, 2016. The Awards seek to appreciate and recognise the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) Champions in India for their significant contributions towards improvement, enhanced productivity and relevant measurable outcomes in e-Governance. The Awards were conferred on them by the NeGD in collaboration with Skoch. NeGD (National e-Governance Division) comes under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology while SKOCH Group is a think tank dealing with socio-economic issues with a focus on inclusive growth since. It may also be noted that under the Digital India programme, several capacity building initiatives are being undertaken at all levels of the government by NeGD. The training programmes are designed to address the customized needs of the respective levels of officials so that the Digital India Programme gets implemented effectively. Both Mr. Wahlang and Mr. Jyrwa had separately attended one of those Chief Information Officer trainings organized by NeGD in 2016.