'India linking villages to high-speed Internet good 1st step'

India's move to link its all six lakh villages to high-speed Internet using fibre-optic cable is a good first step, but the government must de-regulate the entire system to unleash the true potential of young Indians, the co-founder of a leading job portal has said.
Vir Kashyap, co-founder and chief operating officer of Babajob.Com, was one of the few people present at the Facebook Townhall Q&A with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Silicon Valley last month.
He had asked Modi about government's investment plans to enable the next 800 million to a billion Indians get online.
The prime minister had said the government "will need to stress on two things - physical infrastructure and digital infrastructure."

In a recent interview, he said this was a good first step.
"I think it is a good first step... But obviously I would like to see a little bit more plan laid out," Kashyap said.

Kashyap, who lives in Bangalore, moved to India eight years ago and co-founded Babajob.Com. According to him, for every 10 people to be connected with the Internet would create one job.
Kashyap said Modi's reply reflected the priorities of his government.
"He did obviously respond to the point that they are focusing about it, I think it is a good first step," he said.

At the Townhall, he had said he saw a "great promise" to be able to impact India's digital revolution and enable millions of people to get better jobs using the Internet.
"In this age, I think, one of the government's main role should be to invest in the digital infrastructure, which will allow its citizens to get connected and be able to be productive citizens of the global society."
Kashyap also argued that deregulating the system, eliminating unnecessary regulations would help in unleashing the true potential of Indian youths.
"Prime Minister himself said the government has no business to be in business," Kashyap said.

To run a company one needs a reliable power supply, Internet access and tele-communication.
"Those are three essential things that any business needs, especially in the Internet business, like ours," he said.