On addressing the leaders of Indian trade association, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, said "It is a clear understanding that mobile is a device of empowerment. It is a big leveler”, reported ANI.

He also talked about growth of cell phones in the country, and said mobile cannot be seen just as a simple device of communication.

During his address in the Second International Conference on health and safety aspects of mobiles organised by ASSOCHAM, Prasad said, the cell phones would also play a major role in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to end "financial untouchability" with the Jan Dhan Yojana or Scheme for People's Wealth.

However, Prasad said the health and safety aspects of mobile telecommunications have been a major cause for concern. "The need for consult for health is articulated in a manner that the connectivity itself becomes, comes under doubt, or is questioned, can be a serious issue,".

He also said that a public domain must be available to discuss adequate information about radiations emitted through mobile telecommunications, whether radiation emission is good or bad for health, although radiation will always be there.

Prasad further added, that he could recollect the words of former Communications Minister Pramod Vyankatesh Mahajan, who had foresighted the growth of mobile phones in India. "I remember the sterling words of Pramod Mahajan that in a short time every Indian will have mobile and how true he was. Today we have 900 million mobile phones in the country," he said.

He also informed that his goal from day one is to act in a manner that consumer interest is promoted and protected so that the telecom sector gets good growth keeping in mind the health and safety aspects of the people.

Earlier on Thursday, Prasad had met Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of Flipkart Sachin Bansal, in a bid to reinvigorate the postal department by linking it with booming e-commerce.