Then, there was the tablet computer human resources development minister Kapil Sibal showed off last month. It looks like Apple's iPad and costs $35. The news was received with some scepticism. Sibal was bullish about his government's plan to give the machine to millions across the country: "In 2011, the sun will rise for the children of India".
Can the computer and info-tech change a country in which 60% of villages don't have electricity? Can the internet really become a tool for citizen-centric governance in India? According to an Internet & Mobile Association survey, more than 84% of respondents in seven Indian states are unaware the internet exists? Nevertheless, the government and its private sector partners are working on different initiatives which they claim would bring in sweeping changes. These include the unique identification number database (UID), broadband infrastructure, virtual classrooms and a National eGovernance Plan (NeGP). By 2011, IT spending by India's public sector is expected to grow to $5.1 billion, most of it on education and healthcare. Can we really expect virtual classrooms and hospitals in remote places any time soon? Paul Bell thinks so and he should know.
Bell is president of the global public sector division of Dell, the Texas-based firm that is providing technological support to some government projects in India. He told TOI that technology has literally liberated government thinking. "Earlier, the governments depended on their large physical infrastructure to deliver public services effectively to people. Now, information and communication technology allows governments to experiment with new ways of organizing themselves and reaching the citizens."
If technology means freedom, the scale of India's IT efforts on public services is staggering. The eGovernance Plan is meant to reach the most remote village, ensuring large-scale digitization of all land and revenue records. Under the Common Services Centres scheme, over 100,000 broadband centres are being created in rural areas. Around 60 cr people will get UID cards in the next four years. This, according to project head Nandan Nilekani, will give them access to the "government's special health schemes and food or fertilizer subsidies and also would provide instant money deposit and withdrawal facilities at village kirana stores".
Bell says schemes like these are vital for inclusive growth in India. "The UID card will improve the efficiency of the government and impact the quality of life of citizens, especially the poor," he says.
But no one denies that India's "technology gap for young people" is one of the most stark on this digitized planet. The IMAI survey says there are just 5.4 million internet users in the countryside. This, despite mobile phone operators signing up 16 m new users every month on average and global mobile equipment manufacturers competing for lucrative contracts in India. Telecommunications minister Sachin Pilot agrees that a technologically enabled India is a long way off. "It is not enough just to give connectivity, but to be able to give content in those languages, in those rural parts where e-medicine and education can be made a reality. The industry should start focusing on the quality of service," he says.
In the end, says Bell, any technology is only as good as the people running it. Schemes such as UID or e-medicine will empower people if the babu who is noting their online responses is efficient. Else, prepare for more tall tales and non-events such as the $10 laptop.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Shobhan Saxena
Quelle/Source: The Times of India, 19.09.2010