Technology Helping Indians In Economic Security

 

Technology Helping Indians In Economic Security

Small shopkeepers have digitalised their business and no longer depend on cash transactions. Not just payments, even procurement is done online. They have an online Health card and access to medical records and essential documents through a smartphone. Technology has assisted many Indians in being digitally empowered and avail various benefits through a click.

We are witnessing a Digital revolution in India. How is India using Technology in war against Poverty?

India’s Growing Digital Prowess

The backbone of India’s Digital revolution is low data cost and enhanced connectivity. The price of mobile data in India is among the cheapest. Affordable smartphones have increased smartphone numbers to 750 million. Bharat Net has reduced the urban-rural gap and supplemented broadband connections; in 2014, India had around 60 million broadband connections, whereas in 2022, the number has increased to 810 million.

Direct Benefit Transfer

Jan Dhan – Aadhaar – Mobile has been a game changer for India. DBT has played a pivotal role in allowing the government to reach the last mile and supporting the most deprived sections of society. DBT has improved financial inclusion and enabled accurate targeting of beneficiaries. Around 310 schemes from 54 Ministries/ Departments are being implemented under DBT. More than Rs 36,659 crore was transferred using DBT to approximately 16.01 crore beneficiaries during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Digital transactions Digital and Inclusive Health

The progressive advancement of UPI has not just constructed an efficient payment instrument, but it has connected millions on an inclusive and well-structured Digital platform. For the third consecutive month, UPI transaction volumes breached the six-billion mark.

Digital outreach of healthcare facilities is one of the ways to distribute and provide inclusive and equitable resources. Tech is the backbone of India’s Covid Vaccination drive. From booking an appointment to getting the vaccination certificate, CoWin is a one-stop platform for all Covid related documents. Similarly, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission aims to construct a National Digital Health Ecosystem that advocates Universal Health Coverage in a Digital, Inclusive, Affordable, Efficient, Safe and Accessible manner.

GeM is the one-stop marketplace for the MSMEs

The government launched the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) on August 9, 2016. GeM has the potential to benefit more than 8.54 lakh registered cooperatives and their 27 Crore members. It is transparent and efficient; it helps in speedy procurement. GeM has replaced the lengthy procurement process and made the companies/departments efficient.

Numerous other technological interventions are improving and making citizens’ life easy. Technology should not just be accessible to a niche segment; it should be accessible to the masses. India is an example of how technology, if used for good, can be a case study for the Globe. Investing in technology is a merit good that will have a compounding interest in the near future.

Niche technologies must be used to the optimum to reduce poverty and social inequality. Giant technological companies in Europe and America are downsizing because of  slowdown of globale conomy. Can the Indian man power from these technological companies be brought back to India so that India's technological sector benefits and  improves its technological edge.

India Global Player In Space

Two years after the Centre opened the space sector for private players, a rocket developed by a four-year-old startup, Skyroot Aerospace, has been successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Sriharikota. The flight of Vikram-S, named after the father of the country’s space programme Vikram Sarabhai, marks the completion of Mission Prarambh (the beginning). It has three payloads — two owned by domestic customers and one by a foreign client. This includes ‘Fun-Sat’, a 2.5-kg payload belonging to Chennai-based aerospace startup Spacekidz that has been developed by students from India, the US, Singapore and Indonesia.

The Vikram-S launch is a major milestone for India’s space sector. ISRO is helping private players find their feet by offering its facilities for testing as well as for the launch of rockets and satellites. Vikram is a series of modular space launch vehicles especially designed for the small satellite market. Hyderabad-headquartered Skyroot has ambitiously declared that launching satellites into space will soon become as easy as booking a cab. Another private company, Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos, is planning to test-fly its rocket before the year-end. This is good progress for India’s space programme, which had made rapid strides .

The PM had inaugurated the headquarters of the Ahmedabad-based Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), the country's space regulator. It is an autonomous, single-window nodal agency for the promotion, encouragement and regulation of space activities of government and private entities; it also facilitates the use of ISRO facilities by private operators.

 The onus is on IN-SPACe to ensure safety, efficiency and affordability of space vehicles. The time is ripe for India to unveil its much-awaited new space policy, which promises to facilitate better coordination between government entities, space industries, startups and institutions. Sustained focus on research and development, coupled with adequate funding, can pave the way for India becoming a global player in the space sector.