This is All India Radio. In the program Spotlight, we now bring you a discussion on Prime Minister's Vision on using Technology to enhance ease of living. The participants are Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert and Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent.
Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent
Jiten, the Prime Minister has said that we are creating modern digital infrastructure in India while also ensuring that the benefits of the digital revolution reach every section of the society. Would you take us through the genesis and evolution of the digital revolution.
Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert
See, ever since Prime Minister Modi came into power in India his primary focus has been to create digital infrastructure in India and the very first year digital India campaign was launched where the prime objective was to digitise every possible government service, digitalize every single record keeping system we could. Today a time has come where even the file movement among government departments, approval, tenders, purchase everything has also moved on online, so the idea was to create Global digital infrastructure in India which could show that India does not miss the fourth Industrial Revolution which will come in the form of Information Technology. Now at the same time there was you know complete focus on three issues. One, the fruits of the Digital Revolution which India was embarking upon should be enjoyed by the people who are standing at the last section of our society, the poor people, farmers, people who are staying in tier four tier five cities, villages they should also get the benefit of the investment India was making in the digital infrastructure so that focus was there and that is the reason every possible Public Service of the government right from applying for certificates to you know opening bank accounts, applying for government subsidies everything was you know put in an online transparent mechanism. The idea was to ensure that you know this Digital Revolution should benefit the society as a whole, should uplift the society as a whole and this has been only possible because government invested in three pillars, one, jandhan accounts where I think one of the biggest largest financial inclusion theme of the modern history was put into a motion in the largest democracy in the world. We had opened almost 49 crore jandhan accounts in last five years which means getting 49 crore people first time from getting into the organized financial sector in a country and this helped them get a subsidized government loans, get subsidies they were saved from the clutches of this jamidars and these gold lenders who were reaping obnoxious rates and then even farmers are committing suicide because they were not able to repay loans.
Now they have a bank account, they are a part of structural banking economy, they can get subsidized loans, government payments. The second investment was in aadhar and credit must go to previous governments also which conceived this idea and this government which implemented it with a full commitment with the best global technology available. Today almost 90 to 95 percent Indians have got a unique identity in the form of aadhar and this is a biometric enabled entity which can not only be used to identify a person but can also be used to authenticate a person whether he is the same person or not using the Biometrics. Third, India in last decade has now become the largest internet population in the world, the smartphone population in the world so this Trinity of JAM, Jandhan, aadhar and mobile, bank accounts, unique entity and internet resulted in a digital infrastructure which can be today used to give direct subsidies, direct benefit transfer without any leakage, without any corruption in the flick of seconds. We have also now seen that government is using the same infrastructure to create services like digilocker where this red tapism of bureaucracy of asking documents for every simple service right from opening a bank account to a traffic cop to a school to college. You were fed up of sharing the same documents even if you miss one time you would face penalties. So I think today you can keep your documents on a digilocker in a digital format you don't need to physically carry it and within the same digilocker you can share the document with anyone on a flick of second, you can give it to any Ministry, bank they can share it among themselves. So this ease of living is what is making India today one of the most sought after global economies in the world. It is driving our economic growth only because we have today technology available.
Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent
So, Jiten you very rightly said this will lead to digital inclusion, Financial inclusion give people unique identity. However, if we go to the grassroot levels the understanding or the education is not where we would like people to be having when it comes to understanding what all
digital entails. So are there anything that we're doing to train our people, are we doing anything you know to make it easy. Of course technology is meant to be making things easy but we have to train our people for that.
Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert
Ah no it is a right fact. I think the speed at which we have digitalized our economy probably at the same speed and pace we have not been able to impart digital education in our society and that is the reason a significant amount of our population fall for cyber fraud, cyber crimes some people still shy away from digital infrastructure, some people doubt the you know trust factor in the infrastructure but I think this is journey of transition. It's just seven eight years we have been focusing on digital economy, I think maybe another five years when the second generation takes over, you will find much more acceptance, much more understanding of technology, I think all of us will appreciate the fact that 10 years ago a decade ago nobody would have thought that even a rickshaw puller or an Autowalla will be comfortably able to use mobile phone to take payments but today they are.
I mean India is a society of great learners, llet us believe that our societies you know our population which are staying in villages and remote areas, they may have initially found it difficult to you know adapt themselves to this new age of Technology. They may not be aware of every facility they can avail by using this common service centers or internet but I think as time increases as education and awareness spreads they would also become a significant beneficiaries of these technologies. I mean for example today I think everybody in our village knows that if he has to open a bank account, apply for a gas cylinder or even a passport he doesn't have to go to all the way to a capital city of the state he can go to a common service center which will assist him even to get an aadhaar card. So I think with time awareness will also increase and the government also has to put additional focus on resources to impart cyber security education, digital hygiene among the population.
Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent
True, So, the Prime Minister today said that citizens aren't looking at the government as a catalyst where technology plays a huge role. Would you elaborate on this fact?
Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert
He is expecting that government should not be seen as an obstacle but as a facilitator or a stepping stone in your success. He is also trying to convey that even a government should use a technology for the ease for public service, for the upliftment of the society which is standing at the last place, the poor people and the farmers, I mean he's trying to figure out how you can use technology and artificial intelligence to take precision farming to every poor farmer in India using technology to increase the crop yield by 20-25% can we do that? Can we use technology for you know having some sort of additional equipment or medical facilities in the rural Villages for example I mean to collect medical data to analyse medical data to provide predictive opinions, can you use technology for tax for at least assisting the local doctors in the Primitive health care and villages in telemedicine. Can technology do that? I think 5G would enable a lot of services, so he's trying to figure out how India can invest further in technology, in further in artificial intelligence in the areas where technology and AI could be used for the Public Service upliftment of the society.
Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent
Yes and also the Prime Minister elaborated upon the role of technology which you just then also elucidated a while back and that the one nation one ration card and JAM Jandhan, aadhar and mobile Trinity, Aarogya Setu, Railway reservations, common service centers. So if the common man looks at things which can give him quick resolutions and that the government is now enabling. Right?
Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert
You know we all saw those scenes where people were travelling for hundreds of kilometers on foot during the covid lockdown because they wanted to return home and people said the covid spread because we could not check or quarantine the people who were flying from foreign countries they just walked away, influential people did not follow the quarantine guidelines, they just escaped from airport without tests and there was a very famous line I think a famous poet said, “Khata kari passport walon ne, saza mili ration card waalon ko”. So I think we as a society have confined ourselves to see development from the quarters of Capital Cities and urban cities. I know for 10 years we have celebrated this mobile number portability that you can take your mobile number anywhere. I may be invested in it and we celebrated it but we forgot that same technology could be used to even provide one nation and one ration card where a poor farmer or a poor villager or a poor labor who was walking hundreds of kilometers without food because you could not use ration cards in any City because he had to reach his home Village.
Prime Minister realised that why not use technology to solve this problem forever for coming generations that any person who has got an aadhar and can link his aadhaar card, can draw ration card from any shop right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari anywhere he wants, wherever he is, irrespective of his resident status or not so I think this is what he's trying to do that we have a global technological infrastructure available today. India is in the dawn of a Digital Revolution, how can we ensure that the investment India collectively has made on its taxpayers money in this digital infrastructure how can we ensure that even people who are in the rural villages, towns panchayats, tribe how can they also benefit equally as a equal stakeholder in this digital journey and its digital sectors of India.
Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent
The Prime Minister is also not talking just about technology he is also talking about the use of Technology by the people and he's brought in Mission Karam Yogi also he touched upon that aspect and informed the government employees are being trained with a view to becoming more citizen-centric. So it's extremely important that various departments to collectively think about using technology for solving the problems and reaching global standards.
Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert
Ofcourse, technology is one thing but is also trying to change the mindset that is a government servant you are not in a job but you are in service and he is practicing himself as first thing. You see he started calling him Pradhan Sevakand now public servant to Karam Yogi. Idea is that he wants government, the bureaucrats and politicians to be seen as the facilitators for common public not as an obstacle or a problem in the common man's life and he is saying that why not use technology to ease Public Service. I mean all has seen examples people tweeting out from you know Railway compartments about the quality of food or the problems you know somebody trying to get a milk for babies and the railway Ministry you know then and they are responding on Twitter trying to organize everything coordinate could you imagine 10 years ago that if you wanted a milk for a baby which was not available somebody's sitting in Delhi and ensure that our next station you get milk. This is what technology has changed for common man.
I mean let's forget what is happening in cities. Let's imagine what is happening in a second class train compartment and how government uses in technology for the public benefit to ensure the clean toilets, the quality of good food, timely reservation. You don't have to stand in queues for you know one hour to get a railway ticket today, you can get it on paytm. you can get it anywhere you want so common service centers also if you don't have a smartphone. So the point is in a democracy if a government is ensuring that whatever investment is put in any infrastructure, in any sector, every section of society should get benefit out of it and in this mindset itself is one of the greatest change in modern Indian history.
Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent
So how's the technology touted as the Equal Opportunity provider? How does that happen and how does a small business man or even street vendor uses the technology to get government procurement?
Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert
So let's take three examples. One in last 40 years I mean I never heard that I could also apply for a government tender and sell if I am like a manufacturing even a small commodity or a tent or whatever service I was. Everybody thought ”woh toh bade logo ka khel hai” somebody has to have a jack, somebody has to apply for a tender then pull all pressures to win it. Now everything is changed today, there is a government portal which is available online anybody who is producing or manufacturing even a small commodity in any village can just create an account and put his price and the lowest bidder will get the tender without anything and what do you need just a mobile number an email ID and an adhar and your account will be approved.
So you know this government GeM which is a government purchase Network or you know where government buys everything so that is where even a small entrepreneur sitting in a village is able to now sell his commodity service or anything, even if you're manufacturing a small pen you are entitled to bids for any government Department in any state in India right sitting in your village you don't have to come to a city you can do it online. Second it will also stop urbanization of Citizen migration because today you don't need to come and open a shop and Delhi or Bombay to sell your boots, you can just sell anything which is available on any portal like Amazon or wherever because government has created good infrastructure for roads, warehouses, the online taxation design where you can make an account UPI credit cards so sitting in your Village today you can run a shop where you are selling carpets to people across the world. So then it is a great equalizer of opportunities for business for all sections of society. Third right to go to a foreign reputed University had become a right of selected few who could afford it who had money or influence but today able candidate just with a good internet connection which is also very the cheapest in India because every panchayat today is connected with optic fiber today you can enroll for an online course in any of the top reputed universities in the world any of the top refuted IITs in India so equal access to Quality education is also now available. Likewise, you can go for telemedicine medical sector, we can go on and on but the point is technology if implemented honestly with the infrastructure even rural areas will be the biggest equalizer in the society.
Rajesh Lekh, AIR correspondent
Thank you so much jiten for being with All India radio.
Jiten Kumar Jain, IT and Cyber Expert
Thank you so much, Jai Hind.
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