Nine existing government hospitals in Arunachal Pradesh would be upgraded into e-hospitals besides a full-fledged National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) would come up here, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced on Saturday.

Prasad said 200 plus hospitals across the country have been turned into e-hospitals and assured central government's full support in making nine hospitals - along the length of Arunachal Pradesh - into e-hospitals. He directed National Informatics Center (NIC) to fast track the procedure and sought active support of the state government. Lauding the Pema Khandu government for its initiatives to make governance digital, Prasad emphasized the importance of information technology in transforming the way of life and governance for the poor.

"India's Talent - IT - plus Information Technology - IT is equal to India Tomorrow - IT," he said.Reiterating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to develop northeast states at par with other states, Prasad said India cannot develop if the region is not developed. He however, regretted that implementation of Common Service Centers (CSCs) in the state is poor and urged the state government to increase the presence of CSCs, especially at the gram panchayat levels manifold.

He pointed that CSCs, if established in every gram panchayat, would transform rural economy and take central and state government schemes to the grass root. He informed that around 10 lakh people are engaged in running CSCs across the country and 45,000 of them are women. Prasad also emphasized on the BPO sector and suggested establishment of call centres as is being done successfully in Nagaland.