A tech-first approach for Viksit Bharat

From digitally issued vaccine certificates to the use of mass media to educate on vaccines, India, despite its socioeconomic disparities, a shining example to the world in countering vaccine hesitancy

Two recent public events of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were witness to the power of technology, with his speeches in Hindi being translated real-time to Tamil and other Indian languages using the home-gro­wn artificial intelligence (AI) system, Bhashini, develop­ed by the Ministry of Elect­ro­n­ics and Information Technology.
 

If concerns over AI deepfakes have found their way to the public debate, the nation has also been witness to the power of AI being harnessed for the greater good. With his public use of AI, a first by an Indian leader, PM Modi once again demonstrated his natural instinct for experimenting with new technologies.
 

As the first Indian leader to take to live streaming of his speeches on YouTube and to digitally engage via Hangouts, PM Modi has been a consistent pioneer in his use of technology for public outreach and citizen engagement. It’s little wonder that he is not only the most followed among leaders on YouTube with more than 20 million subscribers, but he is also the most followed among world leaders on Instagram with 80 million. As a head of government his X following is just short of the staggering 100 million mark, while his base on WhatsApp is fast growing and crossing the 10 million mark.
 

As the world’s largest democracy and one of the largest markets for mobile phones and digital platforms, while it is natural to expect PM Modi’s online engagement to reach such a staggering scale, it is important to recognise his more than a decade long effort in bridging the digital gap and universalising access.
 

From a digital first app­ro­ach to citizen engagement, In­dia is on the verge of adopting a technology first approach to realising its goal of a developed India or Viksit Bharat by 2047. Underlying this technology first approach to development have been a few key policy pivots that have not only seen significant public offtake but also made a mark globally as was evident during the G20 summit held in New Delhi.
 

With India’s developmental approach rooted in large-scale Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) being endorsed by the G20 group of nations, a fundamental building block for a technology first society is now firmly in place. From Aadhaar to Unified Payments Interface, digital health records to Radio Frequency Identification tags, online tax filings to grievance redress, PM Modi’s initiatives under the umbrella of Digital India have ensured technology is now a critical element of everyday life and a key enabler of his vision of “ease of living”.
 

Similar policy pivots that saw the opening up of space to private enterprises and start-ups as well as the drone sector spurring uniquely Indian innovations have not only fired the imagination of a generation of young Indians but also lowered the barriers for traditional segments of the Indian economy such as agriculture to embrace new technologies.
 

An illustrative but less glamorous example of the diffusion of a scientific temper and use of technology in the traditional sector is the soil health card championed by PM Modi through his Mann Ki Baat and various interventions to encourage the use of laboratory-based soil testing by farmers to improve agricultural productivity. Recent legislations such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and the Telecommunications Act mark a significant step forward in laying down building blocks that would go a long way in the development of a technology first society.
 

These legislations not only mark a break from the colonial past but have a progressive outlook that will help future-proof policies from the rapid pace of technological evolution. By making forensics an integral element of investigations, the recent overhaul of criminal laws underscores how science and technology will come to occupy a central space in Viksit Bharat.
Innovative use of technology for mass educational outreach in India through DTH not only saved the academic year for several students during the Covid-19 lockdown but also drew global attention to how the world’s largest democracy was able to cope with the once in a century challenge of the pandemic.
 

From digitally issued vaccine certificates to the use of mass media to educate on vaccines, India, despite its socioeconomic disparities, was a shining example to the world in countering vaccine hesitancy, demonstrating a rare scientific temper that was in short supply in even developed societies. In the book Collective Spirit, Concrete Action, an entire chapter chronicles how PM Modi’s Mann Ki Baat has over the years emphasised on both the need to provoke scientific curiosity among students and on the importance of locating a scientific temper and a technology first outlook within traditional Indian culture and values.
 

Realising the vision of a Viksit Bharat will require sustained behavioural change across society and organs of the government, where scientific thinking takes deep root in every policy domain from urban planning to rural development. Building further on the technology first approach to diffuse innovations across all sectors of the economy will be critical to accelerate the momentum for a developed India by 2047.

The writer is former CEO, Prasar Bharti