Digital India, launched by prime minister Narendra Modi on July 1, 2015, is an umbrella campaign which encompasses various government campaigns like UDAN, UJALA and several others, launched to take India a tech-first country. Digital India has also promised broadband connection to 2,50,000 villages by 2019, and with a budget of Rs 3,073 crore for FY 18-19, it plans to generate numerous jobs too.
But, Why Does It Matter?
It matters because it promises, to solve the prime concern of our economy, the creation of jobs! With extended dependency on the internet, the demand for data handlers, data enterers, plus several IT experts is bound to increase.
In 2014, when the Modi government came to power, it promised to generate 10 million jobs every year. But, how can digital government assist in the creating more jobs?
1) E-commerce industry set to become a monster- Imagine 1.5 billion people connected to the internet, it will be more than a few nations’ populations grouped. Such a vast user base will expand the reach of e-commerce industry manifold, and several entrepreneurs will get an opportunity to sell their products and ideas on this enormous e-market.
2)Data handling, a peril – To manage a colossal sea of data is a next to impossible task. But to accomplish this arduous task, the government will require several Database handlers and various trained IT professionals.
3)Clerks – Clerks efficient in entering data will be the necessity of our economy.
4) Data protection – Need for several ethical hackers will increase to protect a gigantic heap of data.
But, will converting the Indian economy into a tech-savvy program solve the present difficulties? Or to what extent will this policy, lower the crisis of youth unemployment being faced by the country? And does this policy also have some loopholes? Yes, several loopholes do exist. Creation of jobs also comes with the displacement of many.
Several traditional businesses will be shut with the increased inflow of foreign brands, and only those businesses will sustain who will be able to cope up with the developments and trends of the market. Thousands of unskilled labourers will be rendered jobless, and most of the unorganised sector workers will be required to undergo specific training courses to be able to avail jobs.
Another problem might be the lack of acceptance of new modes of payment. People may find it difficult to adapt to the new methods of payment proposed like shifting from maintaining records of daily transactions on papers to upload it online. Also, many rural households don’t have any bank accounts and hence, enforcing UPI payments on them will be of no use.
Another problem is the safety and management of the data. Amidst new malware and ransomware waiting to steal our data, it will be a challenging task for the government to thwart the data breaches and ransomware attacks.
Other problem which might be confronted in the long run can be the safety and management of the data.
Amidst new malware and ransomware waiting to steal our data, it will be a challenging task for the government to thwart the data breaches and ransomware attacks.
But, the government is introducing several additional services to be provided under digital India campaign like the ‘one nation one card’ policy, smart healthcare policy, Digi locker facility, ‘mobile as digital identity’ policy, smart water management policy, live weather forecast and many others.
How will the government control the e-waste generated? Will it bring more employment opportunities in the future? How will the rural poor benefit? Well, these questions are yet not answered by the government!