Google Maps are not authenticated: Govt

The Survey of India on Thursday stressed that the Indian users should cut their dependence on maps produced by foreign firms such as Google which according to it could not be considered as genuine.

"Google Maps are not authenticated and are widely used by consumers to find restaurants and parks only," Surveyor General of India Swarna Subba Rao said, adding that the government doesn't rely on them. "We are asking Indians to use maps produced by the Survey of India and shouldn't use those developed by companies outside the country," Rao said.

The US-based Internet search giant Google previously showed India's Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as 'disputed territories' and did not mention them as integral parts of the country.

Rao believes that such maps could not be used for serious applications while those created by the national agency are used for engineering purposes to lay roads and railway tracks and are heavily the government banks them for defence and developmental functions.

Minister of Science & Technology Harsh Vardhan said that more than 5,000 maps were produced by the government and that also help in safeguarding our country's boundaries.

Vardhan further said that the government has started a novel scheme that allows foreign-based scientists to contribute to the Indian growth by working part-time in laboratories and academic institutions for which they would be paid $ 15,000 for the first month and $ 10,000 for next two months.

Present on the occasion, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said that the 250-year-old Survey of India has adopted newer technology to overcome challenges and have started publishing digital maps.

"Technology is changing very fast and the Survey of India is working in tandem so as to meet the expectations of the country," Sinha said after releasing a set of two commemorative postage stamps and a miniature sheet on "Survey of India" on the occasion of its 250th anniversary.