President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday advocated exploration of innovative solutions to make government offices run in paperless and contactless mode for the safety of every citizen amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that it will also help in making administrative processes more eco-friendly.

Speaking after the presentation of 'Digital India Awards 2020' via videoconference, Kovind said: "We must also leverage technology and ICT-driven innovative solutions to aid economic inclusiveness and social transformation even in the remotest corners of our country."

Noting that a large segment of our population is still not able to derive the benefits of digital devices and services, the President said that the number of such people needs to be minimised by extending digital access to them through effective innovations.

"This will make our digital revolution more inclusive," said the President.

 "Thus, the Digital India initiative of the government should continue to strive towards reducing the digital divide."

 Pointing out that information is power, he said: "Sharing more information with more people not only increases transparency in society, but also empowers citizens and civil society. With this noble ideal in mind, the government has started putting different data sets and data resources in the public domain."

The President said that this is highly necessary for an informed citizenry, which is the cornerstone of democracy.

The National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy too envisages a participatory model of governance in which citizens can access non-strategic information from public authorities and become partners with the government in various reform processes, he said.

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Mentioning that coronavirus has changed the world in terms of social relations, economic activities, healthcare, education and several other aspects of life, the President said that "technological advances this year helped us overcome the big disruption to a great extent".