India's success is case study in using tech to transform lives: MoS IT

Minister of State for Information and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday said India's success is a case study in using technology to transform citizens' lives and underscored that digital India framework boosted the confidence of a whole new generation of young Indians, a press release said.

Addressing World Bank Digital Economy Conclave 2023 on Thursday, the minister said "In 2015, through the launch of Digital India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set unconventional expectations through three broad goals - technology should improve the lives of citizens, impact governance and democracy and further expand and create an architecture for an innovation economy. Over the past nine years, India has taken a lead in creating technologies as opposed to being a mute spectator and consumer of technology."

He emphasised the milestones achieved through Digital India in the past nine years, which catalysed the country's rapid progress towards a five trillion US dollar economy by 2026. "India's success is case study in using technology to transform citizens' live," said MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The statement further added that Rajeev Chandrasekhar also highlighted how digitisation of government services has facilitated the formalisation of informal sectors that now use digital payments and micro-credit. "These services which are part of the India stack are now being offered to countries who are keen on digitising Governance," the IT minister said, said the release.

"The digitisation of government services has facilitated the formalisation of informal sectors, like street vendors, who now use digital payments and micro-credit. The transformation brought about by the India stack, including initiatives like UPI and Aadhaar, has not only improved governance but also created a vibrant innovation ecosystem. India's success in deploying technology to transform lives has drawn interest from other countries looking to digitise their economies and governance. The India stack, with its innovative ecosystem, is being offered as a partnership to these countries," the Minister further added.

The Minister, during his interaction with executives from World Bank, spoke about how the Government was revived from dysfunctional Governance that prevented distribution of resources to people living in remote areas, it added.

"For many years, the narrative about India, despite being a tech country with talented people, revolved around the issue of dysfunctional governance that failed to reach the people. This described the challenges India faced in governance. However, in 2015, when Digital India was launched, an architecture and framework for technology's expectations and outcomes were introduced and understood. This has significantly boosted the confidence of a whole new generation of young Indians," the Minister explained.