The impact of Digital India!

One of the key decisions of the new government in May 2014 was to focus on digitalization, despite many experts expressing doubts about its success. Contrary to their beliefs, it became the single most impactful policy decision, enhancing the lifestyles and livelihoods of millions. Services that were once out of reach are now just a fingertip away. How could I forget my own personal tragedy? If online services had been available in 2005, I could have been with my father during his final moments. Instead, I wasted a day, including an hour in a queue, to cancel my train ticket to Pune amidst my doctoral studies. It was a harrowing choice, one that haunts me, especially knowing that my father's days were numbered. No one understands the importance of digital access to services in critical times more than someone who has lived through such an ordeal.

The livelihood of millions of people has now simplified as a result of digital drive. Apart from the availability of various government services at fingertip, now bus tickets to air tickets can be booked through various applications on a smart phone. It is difficult for rich people (who might have probably never travelled by bus) to visualize a terrible situation that waits to book a ticket during rush hours of festive seasons. I witnessed such situations during my graduation several times while visiting my native, there's no choice other than taking a bus from Guwahati to Tezpur. It also emphasizes the accessibility of easy public mobility and communication infrastructure. 

Thanks to the modernization of the banking system when online payment has become easier and available 24/7 hours like never before which was essential to support the digital drive. The long queues for withdrawing money from banks or booking movie tickets from a theatre are things of past. Both national and international air and railway tickets can now be booked while sitting at home. It has not only saved thousands of productive hours of hard-working individuals but also ensures their safety.

The positive effect of digital drive and need for an access to high-speed internet was best realized during the Covid19 pandemic. It helped a generation to continue their study uninterrupted from home when going out was difficult.  In the beginning, there was little understanding on the nature of the virus, forget about a clear treatment strategy even by the best doctors. People were traumatized when Covid19 pandemic was at peak – it was a scary situation even to go to market for daily essential needs. That was the time when no one, even the professionals of medical field had no exact information about the pandemic, one can imagine the situation of common people living in the remotest parts of our country. Fortunately, that was the blessings in disguise that virus didn’t spread easily to such places because they were cut off from the external world. When the virus started spreading like a bonfire, by that time government had an effective strategy to tackle it and free for all vaccine was quickly made available. The digital drive had helped several families to remain connected and motivate rest of their family members even though they were separated by long distances. It was not just an emotional attachment that helped but also to real-time transfer of money online when they were at distress.  It also helped new age entrepreneurs to enter into the digital marketing platforms and they get the right opportunity to flourish, again thanks to accessibility of high-speed mobile internet even at the village level. The e-business had also saved lives of millions of customers who could protect themselves from getting infected from the SARS-Cov2 virus due to no contact delivery of products at doorstep. It also helped government to manage the Covid19 pandemic during the peak and the massive immunization drive was successful without a major glitch which was nothing but a wonder for the rest of the world. It was the result of the timely implementation of the digital India program that had helped effective dissemination of information, real-time monitoring, and distribution of vaccines and medicines to needy section of the society. People will thank the government for the almost impossible achievement by effectively managing the Covid19 pandemic for years to come. It is easier to say than to manage a population of 140 crore people during the pandemic situations, especially when nothing was known about the virus that had caused the Covid19 pandemic.    

The digital India drive has multipole benefits to the society – sectors like banking, education, healthcare, social justice, disaster management all are benefitted from it. Apart from preserving the ancient writings in the digital format which were once in the verge of extinction, it also helped to create a talent force of new age entrepreneurs. People got a digital platform to show their multifaceted talent effortlessly. Some of them are now the public reporters, some are social media stars, many have entered entertainment industry, and many more have got the opportunity to exhibit their talent as chefs even by traditional housewives. It helped to break the barrier of rich and poor because such opportunities were earlier available only to rich people who could afford it. A simple smart phone has become the medium of translating their talent by becoming new age entrepreneurs. This is a tremendous achievement for a government because it has imbibed a fresh spirit of ambition and confidence of people in the society.  

The advancements achieved through scientific progress are irreversible, and modern society is deeply reliant on technology. It is crucial for governments to ensure that traditional knowledge and educational systems are not entirely supplanted by new technologies. We must guarantee that technology does not dominate human behavior; rather, humans should retain complete control over it, especially with modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). The lack of digital literacy is a significant issue, as naive citizens often lose their hard-earned money to fraudsters, creating challenges for security agencies. Today's fraudsters operate illicit businesses ranging from drug cartels to black money syndicates, with unchecked money flows to overseas operators. They can manipulate large groups of people emotionally or on easily manipulated issues using illicit funds. It is vital for the government to establish a security network to thwart fraudulent transactions and compensate victims of genuine frauds. Often, the government's reliance on financial companies' promises is problematic due to the complex and stringent dispute resolution mechanisms, which is a major concern. Unsuspecting users, unaware of their options, become prime targets for financial criminals. In such cases, victims may blame fate, much like farmers once depended on the rain gods for irrigation. The easy access to illicit substances like drugs and the adoption of flawed business models by unemployed youth through dark virtual networks is also troubling. If these antisocial elements are not controlled, they could potentially destroy the positive ecosystem and, ultimately, the backbone of society.