GUWAHATI:The Assam government on Thursday signed an MoU with Google India Pvt Limited here to provide internet connectivity to 26,000 villages and 1500 tea garden areas across the state. The move aims at women empowerment, skill development and universal education. The Assam government will also use this tie-up with Google as a way forward to strongly pitch for Guwahati as a natural gateway to the Southeast Asian countries. The secretary of information technology department, Nitin Khare , and the country head (Policy) of Google India, Chetan Krishnaswami , signed the MoU in the presence of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said technology rules the roost in the 21st century. He added that the state government is focussing on technology to take the fruits of development to even the remotest part.The chief minister said the MoU is the latest addition to the arsenal of the state government to make technology-driven development a reality in the state. He added that the Assam government is in sync with the Centre to work rigorously for making the ground fertile for the success of startup programmes.However, the success of these programmes sans technology will remain a distant dream, he said. Sonowal asked the information technology department to make technology acceptable and favourable among the rural populace so that it acts as a catalyst for development.