Akhilesh Srivastava- The Key Implementer of IT-Enabled Projects in India

At a time when technology is progressing by leaps and bounds, no sector could shy away from leveraging it. In fact, it costs a lot for any organisation or country without induction of new technologies. The Highways sector in India witnessed many IT-based innovations. Akhilesh Srivastava, who is CGM of IT and Highway operations of NHAI, is one of the key authorities involved in IT-enabled projects pertaining to national highways.

Mr Akhilesh Srivastava, who is known for his tech-savvy nature, has kick-started and executed many of NHAI’s developmental projects in a time-bound manner. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is a statutory body of Government of India, was established to develop and monitor the major chunk of the national highways.

The NHAI has created "The Highway operations division" to effectively implement the development projects. The division, which is headed by dynamic bureaucrat Mr Akhilesh Srivastava, has undertaken many of the IT-led developmental projects. He executed the famous FASTag project, which is regarded as the revolutionary development in the highways sector of India.

The FASTag project, which is also referred as Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system, has been in the news for every positive reason. This project signaled how dedicated NHAI is in easing commuters’ problems. FASTag is an electronic tag, which works on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. This technology is similar to Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies like Bluetooth.

FASTag, which is developed by NHAI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), would benefit commuters in a large way. All that commuters need to do, in order to reap the benefits of FASTag Toll collection system, is to purchase unique FASTags and link them to their respective bank accounts. Commuters need to affix FASTags to their vehicles’ windscreens. The Government of India (GoI) made it mandatory to have FASTag for every new vehicle purchased after November 2017. The NHAI had ordered the highway operations division, which is guided by Mr Akhilesh Srivastava, to create at least one dedicated FASTag lane on either side of the Toll plaza. When a FASTagged vehicle passes by such Toll Plaza, without any human interference the Toll would be deducted automatically as the RFID sensors near such Toll plazas detect the vehicle and make it possible for the IT-enabled system to perform its tasks.

Another noteworthy project in which Mr Srivastava played a great role is Road Asset Management System (RAMS). The NHAI has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Under which the NHAI would use the satellite data related to national highways of India and also the ISRO would help NHAI in mapping the resources alongside national highways.

There are more such milestones in Mr Akhilesh Srivastava’s career and he has received many applauds and awards from different organisations. Recently he got conferred with the prestigious "CIDC Vishwakarma Award".

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