Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha pays tribute at Shastri Memorial in Tashkent
Tashkent, Sep 7 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Monday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Shastri Memorial in Tashkent, during his ongoing visit to Uzbekistan.
“Paid homage to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji in Tashkent. Visited his monument and paid my respects, and walked along the road named in his honour here in Uzbekistan. It was a proud moment to see the respect with which his memory is preserved here, decades later. His simplicity, integrity and deep sense of duty continue to inspire generations,” he posted on X.
During his visit to Uzbekistan, Chadha represented India at the 12th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians held in Samarkand .
Founded in 1889, the IPU is the world’s oldest and largest body of national parliaments, bringing together 183 Member Parliaments and 15 Associate Members.
Addressing the event on the theme of ‘Digital Access and Rights in a Digital Era’ on Sunday, Chadha called for a ‘digital future’ that promotes inclusion, protects individual rights and creates equal opportunities. He also highlighted India’s digital transformation and the growing technology cooperation between India and Uzbekistan.
Chadha highlighted the recent strengthening of bilateral ties between India and Uzbekistan and spoke about the role of digital infrastructure in connecting people and economies. He called for a ‘digital future’ that promotes inclusion, protects individual rights and creates equal opportunities, while highlighting India’s digital transformation and the growing technology cooperation between India and Uzbekistan.
Speaking about digital rights, the BJP leader said that India viewed them through four key principles — access, agency, safety and opportunity — and outlined the country’s progress in each of these areas.
On access, Chadha referred to the Digital India initiative launched by the Government of India in 2015 and said its objective was to ensure that technology acted as a bridge rather than creating another divide in society.
“First: Access. In 2015, the Government of India launched the Digital India initiative, guided by the belief that technology must be a bridge and not a divider. India’s internet subscribers have grown from 250 million in 2014 to more than 1 billion today,” he said.
“Let us come to data, which is the fuel of the digital ecosystem. Today, the cost of 1 GB of data has fallen from Rs 269 in 2014 to just Rs 8 per GB. That is a reduction of 97 per cent,” Chadha said.
Chadha highlighted India’s UPI as an example of a digital payment system designed to provide access across banks and technology platforms. He said the growth of UPI demonstrated how digital infrastructure could become an instrument of financial and social inclusion.
On Saturday, Raghav Chadha held a meeting with Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva, with discussions held on bilateral ties.
Following the meeting, Chadha wrote on X: “In Samarkand, I had the opportunity of meeting H.E. Tanzila Narbaeva, Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan. It was a pleasure to personally invite her to the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which will be hosted under the Chairmanship of India Parliament this October, in Delhi.”
“We spoke about the growing relationship between India and Uzbekistan. She spoke very warmly about India and Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji’s successful visit to Uzbekistan recently, and expressed keen interest in the invitation,” he added.
–IANS
akl/as
