The higher education department of the Union education ministry has issued a directive asking all its officials to use the Zoho Office Suite for official work. The decision, announced on Friday, aims to promote digital sovereignty under the Swadeshi movement and supports the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.
In an official memorandum, Nishant Upadhyaya, under secretary of higher education, stated that the move aligns with the government’s broader goal of shifting from a service-based economy to becoming a product-driven nation. It also reflects the effort to build a self-reliant ecosystem in technology, hardware, and software.
Officials are now required to use Zoho tools for creating, editing, and sharing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. These tools are already integrated with the National Informatics Centre mail system, allowing seamless access and collaboration.
Zoho Office Suite is a cloud-based productivity platform developed by Chennai-based Zoho Corporation. It offers services similar to other widely used platforms like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace.
The memorandum added, “By embracing Zoho’s indigenous office productivity tools, we take a bold step in the Swadeshi movement, empowering India to lead with homegrown innovation, strengthen digital sovereignty, and secure our data for a self-reliant future.”
To ensure smooth implementation, the document instructed officials to access Zoho through their NIC mail accounts, get familiar with the features, and make use of its collaborative options for official tasks.
This move comes two years after it was first reported in September 2023 that the Union government had selected Zoho to manage email services and internet-based office products. This marks the first time a private company has been entrusted with handling government digital services.
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