Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is yearning for a digital revolution and efforts towards ‘Digital India’ were all-encompassing and aimed at transforming the lives of people. Modi was answering questions in a Digital Dialogue on Twitter on Sunday evening, reiterating the role of technology in nation building. He described technology as a means to “discover, learn, evolve and implement” in delivering services to the people.
“The world is changing, quicker than ever before and we cannot remain oblivious to that. If we don’t innovate, if we don’t come up with cutting-edge products there will be stagnation,” he said, adding, “On the part of the Government, I assure absolute support.”
While interacting with Netizens, Modi said that he was very active on the Internet and found time to check emails and respond. “This is the question many people ask me when I meet them. They ask me about technology, what mobile phone I use, how often I check my email. like any common person, I scan my emails and try to be regular in correspondence. By my own standards I am still slow.
“Technology makes access to information a lot faster. I am able to access news on the go. I may be travelling in the hills, in the North-East, in interiors of Chhattisgarh but thanks to technology I keep abreast of what is happening. I have been using technology for my work right from the days when I was doing party work. As a CM I made attempts to integrate technology in the working of the Government and my efforts to do the same continue in Delhi,” said Modi.
Exhorting people to keep innovating as “innovation is what will help us grow faster”, the Prime Minister particularly encouraged the start-ups, saying they are “the engines of exponential growth, manifesting the power of innovation”.
Modi also promised to do everything possible to make enterprise and innovation easier so that India emerges as an innovation hub and keeps pace with the fast changing world.
“Technology is fast, technology is simple and technology is brilliant way to serve people. It is also a great teacher. The more we learn about technology and the more we learn through technology, the better it is. Technology empowers the less empowered. If there is a strong force that brings a change in the lives of those on the margins it is technology,” he said.
He said for the Digital India, investment was committed by Industry and it indicates their optimism and positive effects will be felt for generations. Modi said the future belong to social media. “It is egalitarian and inclusive. Social Media is not about any country, any language, any colour, any community but it is about human values and that is the underlying link binding humanity,” said the PM.
“I want to tell everyone -- our request for a Digital India is all-encompassing. It is going to touch your lives in several ways, making it easier. For instance, the Digital locker and e-Sign will manage all key documents with ease and efficiency. Documents can be accessed at a click and that too without being inconvenienced. Take healthcare -- eHospital would mean no more wasting time standing in hospital lines. Instead, there is an online registration for appointment, online payment and online reports,” detailed Modi.
To a question on challenges to the roadmap of Digital India, Modi said, “When we have taken up such an ambitious initiative and that too at such a large scale, there will be several challenges. But, we should neither underestimate these challenges nor should we get overwhelmed by them. We must be laser-focused on our Mission and that is what we are doing.”
“We have to empower our citizens with the skills and knowledge to use digital applications and services. We also have to volunteer time and effort to share digital skills so that our fellow citizens who have recently been digitally empowered get to know how to use this powerful medium and are able to get the maximum out of this medium,” he added.
Another challenge, he said, is reforming the citizen-Government interface and the processes of governance. “A Digital-First model of governance will not only bring in efficiency and transparency but also will also dramatically reduce corruption,” he said.