The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is the technological bridge of India and is best placed to lead the way for a Digital India, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said here on Thursday.

"NIC is best placed to lead the way for a Digital India that the honorable Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) envisaged. I would urge the district information officers (DIOs) to be innovative and proactive," Prasad said.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day event National Meet on Grassroot Informatics -- VIVID: Weaving a Digital India organised by the NIC.

"NIC must adopt a transformative approach to make a difference at the grassroots level. I appeal NIC to connect with the common service centres, who have successfully provided training on digital payment systems to over 1.96 crore of rural citizens and 6.15 lakhs of merchants," the minister said.

Prasad also announced the government is going to enhance the infrastructure of district NIC offices to international standards. 

As a pilot project, 150 district NIC offices would be upgraded during the period 2017-18, while rest will follow soon. 

He also announced the introduction of annual awards for the DIOs of the NIC for taking up exemplary innovative approach in their respective districts. The top three best innovators will get a reward of Rs 200,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively.

The NIC also launched two new portals - District Collector's Dashboard and NIC Service Desk 

The national meet on grassroot informatics is aimed at showcasing the various initiatives of NIC in creating and enhancing the digital infrastructure in the country.