Government goes digital, stops printing of diaries, calendars and greeting cards

The Union Government on September 2, 2020 asked all ministries and departments to stop printing wall calendars, diaries, desktop calendars and greeting cards in their physical forms to encourage shift to digital platform. 

The Ministry of Finance issued a statement saying that there will be no activity of printing of wall calendars, desktop calendars, diaries and other such materials for use by any ministry, department, public sector companies, state-run banks or other organs of the government in the coming year. 

The Ministry’s statement mentioned that all such activity will go digital and online. 

Key Highlights 

• The department of expenditure, under the Union finance ministry had issued the order banning physical printing of diaries and calendars. The order emphasised that the decision has come into force with immediate effect.

• The order has also banned the publication of coffee table books in physical form to encourage appropriate use of e-books.

• The order stated that innovative digital and online solutions, which will achieve the same result as physical calendars or diaries, will have to be prioritised and put into practice.

• As per government officials, the decision will stop the practice of distributing diaries and calendars by government departments, public sector banks and state-run companies before the beginning of every new calendar year.

Objective 

According to department of expenditure, the decision has been taken as the world is increasingly moving towards adopting digital force multipliers for productivity. The department further noted that using technological innovations for planning, scheduling and forecasting is known to be more economical, efficient and effective.

The move is line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to create a digital India, which sees technology as an enabler for overall economic growth of the nation.