The Digital India dream

The Modi Government's Digital India plan, unveiled on Wednesday, has the potential to bridge the gap between India's haves and have-nots by leveraging the power of the Internet to improve governance, create jobs and open up a world of new opportunities. To be fair, previous Governments have also made similar efforts, and the revolution is already underway, with thousands of new users going online every day and an increasing number of people using the Internet for more activities, from shopping to studying to seeking potential marriage partners. But the Digital India progamme is necessary to scale-up the revolution and ensure that it touches the lives of every Indian including those that live in the farthest corners of the country. The programme has three main pillars: Building digital infrastructure; putting Government services online; and the digital empowerment of citizens.

The first is crucial for the second and third to succeed. Digital India stands on the platform of universal access to affordable, high-speed Internet. This country is expected to cross the 500 million-Internet user-benchmark some time in 2018-2019, which means that today about a billion people are still off the grid. Most of these people live in rural areas, where digital infrastructure is yet to be laid. Plugging this gap will be easier said than done, as the Centre-State trouble with the laying of the National Optical Fibre Network shows. Also, the rural market, which is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the next few years, will be price sensitive. Innovative technology and disruptive strategies will be required at all levels to develop this market. Moreover, it will not be enough to just bring people online — the quality and security of the Internet connection will determine the extent to which digital platforms are integrated into daily lives. As of now, India’s mobile connectivity is still primarily 2G; 3G is limited to the urban elite; and 4G is not even offered by all mobile operators. Internet safety is another area of concern: If people see there is a high risk of their monies or identities being stolen online, they will steer clear of the Internet.  

However, once the basics are in place, it is safe to assume that the rest of the plan will quickly gather pace — be it digital governance (paying utility bills online, storing identification documents online) or e-commerce (online shopping platforms have already changed the nature of the business) or even entrepreneurship. In the first case, the Internet is cutting out the middle-man and bringing in greater transparency. In the second, it is magnifying the market for retailers and making more products at affordable prices available to consumers. In the third, the Internet is becoming a liberating tool for the labour market.

As youths start up their own e-firms, they not only reduce the state's job-creation burden but also bring innovative solutions to different problems — think of how mobile Internet applications have changed the way text messages are exchanged or made it more convenient to find a ride. Apart from entrepreneurial ventures, the Internet will also create more ‘traditional' jobs to support the larger digital eco-system — for example, produce more electronic goods and man more technical support centres. This will feed directly into the Make in India programme.