Lok Sabha Question No. 3468 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-17
Subject: Government Functionaries on Social Media
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Faizal P.P. Mohammed, Amar Singh, A. Chellakumar, M. Selvaraj

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3468

TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2021

## GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

3468.   SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA: SHRI MOHAMMED FAIZAL  P.P.: DR. AMAR SINGH: DR. A.  CHALLAKUMAR: SHRI M. SELVARAJ:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  and  the  details  of  Government  functionaries  including  Ministries,  Departments  and Government  officers  who  have  signed  up  for  the  social  media  platform  Koo  in  their  official capacity;
- (b) whether  the  Government  had  issued  any  directive  requiring    the  aforementioned  Government functionaries  to sign up on the said app and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the level of involvement and the nature of support given by the Government to such apps and other indigenously developed  apps; and
- (d) whether any incentives over and above the cash awards are provided by the Government to these apps and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a):  Key organisations from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) have set up accounts on Koo, India's own micro-blogging platform. The handle details are as given below:

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology: @Meity

MyGov: @MyGovindia

Digital India: @Digitalindia

Umang App: @Umang

The information with regard to other Ministries / Departments and officers who have signed up Koo is not maintained by the MeitY.

(c) and (d):  MeitY in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)-Niti Aayog launched Digital AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovation Challenge. The innovation challenge was a joint initiative of AIM, Startup  Hub  (MSH)  and  MyGov.  All  stakeholders  were  involved  from  Conceptualization  to  evalu stage. A total of 6,940 applications under various categories as given below were received:

| S. No.             | Category               | Individual   | Organization   | Total Applications   |
|--------------------|------------------------|--------------|----------------|----------------------|
| 1                  | Business               | 610          | 532            | 1,142                |
| 2                  | Health& Wellness       | 517          | 384            | 901                  |
| 3                  | E-Learning             | 579          | 483            | 1,062                |
| 4                  | Social Networking      | 780          | 375            | 1,155                |
| 5                  | Games                  | 244          | 82             | 326                  |
| 6                  | Office& Work From Home | 355          | 307            | 662                  |
| 7                  | News                   | 166          | 71             | 237                  |
| 8                  | Entertainment          | 201          | 119            | 320                  |
| 9                  | Others                 | 487          | 648            | 1,135                |
| Total Applications | Total Applications     | 3,939        | 3,001          | 6,940                |

Salient features: The shortlisted Apps will be put up on leader board for the information of citizens. that are found to be suitable for use of Government will be adopted and guided for maturity. The rel Apps may also be listed on GeM. To give a push to India App ecosystem by identifying the best In Apps that has the potential to become leaders in their respective categories.

It was decided that the winners in each category would be monetarily awarded. The award amount for was INR 20 Lakh, Second was INR 15 Lakh and the third was INR 10 Lakh. A total of INR 3.80 Cror been awarded to 24 winners.

*******