Digital India, being touted as one of the biggest events of the Modi government, turned out to be one with a combined commitment for Rs 4.5 lakh crore by top business groups but with some hiccups.
A top chief executive of a telecom firm was not allowed to carry his notebook inside the premises of Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, where the prime minister launched the start of Digital Week. Many in the general public were barred from taking their tablets inside, though mobile phones were allowed.
Scuffles with police personnel and the employees of the event management firm could be seen at many gates as people were denied entry because of their handbags.
After the initial hiccups, the event began smoothly, with top honchos arriving 30 minutes before the scheduled time. Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani was present, as were other ministers of the government. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani was seen with son Akash and daughter Isha.
Every chief executive who spoke was allotted two-and-a-half minutes only, and was told to check the stopwatch installed in front of them. Even so, the presenter had to remind them every now and then to stick to their given time.
Pawan Munjal of Hero Group had the shortest speech among all the top CEOs; Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta Resources spoke the longest and also got the loudest applause, similar to the PM, probably because he was speaking in Hindi. Apart from Agarwal, only Hari Om Rai from Lava International spoke in Hindi.
"He (PM) has set the trend of selfies," Sunil Bharti Mittal of the Bharti Group said. Anil Ambani talked about the PM's eight million followers on Twitter and 25 mn on Facebook, saying, "His name is synonymous with connectivity and social media."
Minister for communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad was near the podium three hours before the event, overseeing the arrangements. He has been a regular visitor to the stadium for the past four days - Digital India is considered one of the most ambitious of government schemes.
No wonder, the Digital India hashtag was trending all day on Twitter.
