DATAQUEST IT PERSON OF THE YEAR 2019 - PRAKASH KUMAR, CEO, GSTN

GST was a landmark tax law. Its main implementer was honoured by Dataquest recently. This was a session of stock taking about the past and also of looking at the future

- Pradeep Chakraborty

Prakash Kumar, CEO, GSTN, was conferred the Dataquest IT Person of the Year 2019 award. He was selected by the eminent jury, including Ajay Sawhney, Arjun Malhotra, CP Gurnani, Deb Deep Sengupta, Dr. Gulshan Rai, Karan Bajwa, Som Satsangi, Ritesh Agarwal, Vikas Bhonsle etc.

In a message, Nandan Nilekani, Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys, said, “I am delighted to learn that Prakash Kumar, has been awarded the DQ IT Person of the Year 2019. He is truly a unique individual. GSTN was set up to be India’s most radical backbone for India’s tax reform. The country moved to one single national tax system. This was a major change in technology and business process. I am convinced that Prakash has done an amazing job.”

There was a panel discussion on digital ecosystems to transform India, featuring, Prakash Kumar, CEO, GSTN, Ajay P Sawhney, Secretary, MeitY, GoI, J Satyanarayana, Chief Advisor, C4IR India, World Economic Forum, R. Chandrasekhar, former President of NASSCOM and former Secretary, DoT and Pradeep Gupta, CMD, Cybermedia Group.

Opening the discussion, Pradeep Gupta, CMD, Cybermedia Group, said, “PM Modi has set a target of US$5 trillion and of an Atmanirbhar Bharat. Back in the 1980s, the railway reservation system was the first project in India. R. Chandrasekhar ran the first IT department in Andhra Pradesh. Give us your thoughts on the journey?”