New Delhi: In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push for Swadeshi under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission, the Union Education ministry’s Higher Education department has directed all officials to adopt the Zoho Office Suite for official work.
The ‘bold’ move is in line with the Central government’s vision of building a self-reliant ecosystem in technology, hardware and software.
The Education Ministry has instructed its officials to use the Zoho Office Suite for all official documents, marking a significant move toward digital self-reliance.
The directive comes after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan endorsed Zoho’s messaging app, Arattari, to be in alignment with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.
Nishant Upadhyaya, under-secretary of Higher Education, said in the office memorandum that the directive aligns with the government’s vision of transforming the country from a service economy into a product nation and building a self-reliant ecosystem in technology, hardware, and software. Officials will be required to use Zoho tools — already integrated with the NIC mail system — for creating, editing, and sharing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, Upadhyaya said.
Zoho Office Suite, a cloud-based productivity platform by Chennai-based private firm Zoho Corporation, offers tools like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace.
“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,” the memorandum noted.
Compliance instructions have been issued too.
Officials can access Zoho tools via their National Informatics Centre (NIC) mail accounts, familiarise themselves with the suite’s features and make full use of its collaborative functions.
