Meet Digital India's 17-Year-Old Brand Ambassador

Mumbai: He's been staying in Mumbai for a little over two months but he hasn't seen the Gateway of India, the Bandra Worli Sea Link or any other major landmark in the city. He's had little time to step out and explore the city. What he has visited, though, is the Nehru Science Centre in Worli. Meet 17-year-old Satvat Jagwani who is one of the four brand ambassadors for the Government of India's ambitious Digital India Campaign.

He topped the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) Advanced tests this year. That achievement not only secured his spot to the B.Tech course in computer science in IIT Powai, but also took him from being a boy in a small town in Madhya Pradesh to brand ambassador for the Indian government's campaign.

"I found out about this in the last week of June when we got an e-mail from the government. My parents were pretty thrilled. I was quite unsure initially," he told NDTV.

Mr Satvat says he still doesn't have the details of how he will be associated with the campaign but says it could be in the area of e-hospitals.

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"There is a plan to see how reports can be delivered online so no one has to wait in long lines at hospitals for them," the teenager says. He's confident he will be able to juggle his studies and the role he will be assigned as brand ambassador.

Apart from Mr Satvat, the other brand ambassadors are Krati Tiwari, IIT-JEE advanced topper among girls, Pranav Mistry from Samsung USA (Computer Scientist and author of 6th Sense)
and Ankit Fadia, author and controversial hacker.

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In fact, the government was caught in a flip flop over the name of Ankit Fadia, first withdrawing a press release and then reconfirming his name by the end of the day on Tuesday. The four will be brand ambassadors for a year and will help with promotion of the Digital India Campaign.

Digital India is a massive tech push to provide electronic governance and universal phone connectivity across the country.  The aim is to bridge the digital divide, bringing in large investments in technology manufacturing.