A giant technological leap has been taken successfully but judging by the speed of change, the next big transition may not be too far away. There is always an amount of discomfort and resistance to change, especially from people who have been used to a system for decades but ultimately change usually stays. The online process for renewing driving license and vehicle insurance are some recent additions to the UPI. Today within 20 minutes one can make electronic payments for their monthly water, electricity, gas, MTNL,Tata Sky etc, bills. We have taken these conveniences for granted and have forgotten the time and energy spent for these unavoidable tasks; until of course being reminded after reading your very well composed article.
Dear Gautam, thank you for your remarks. Glad you reminded us about the drudgery of discharging monthly bills is now in our rear view mirror. And now India is looking to leapfrog using public digital assets. 🤞
Very interesting and informative article on PDA.e governance is the way forward and India is moving in the right direction. But due to our large population and the over dependence on primary sector for employment of our labour force, we can't ignore the digital divide and lack of internet facilities in remote areas.
As a teacher ,I fully agree to your views on digital India and its benefits. Online classes are here to stay .so much we have learnt in these last two years that we can't remain ignorant and its time for all to unlearn and relearn !!! But there are many students especially the EWS category who do not have devices or internet connections. So India has to increase its speed in this direction!!!
Dear Vandana, thank you for your comment and for framing the cons of the digital divide so well. You are right. This has been a big year of learning, especially from frontline personnel like teachers. Best. Anil
One of the finest pieces I have read in recent times. Amazing insights sir! Some points to ponder upon : what do you think could be the possible fallout of adopting e governance in every area of public delivery? Isn't digital divide/literacy still a issue in rural pockets? Is the internet penetration same in rural and urban India? Would be happy to learn the other side of our success story also .
Thank you so much for your kind words. Much appreciated.
Your questions are extremely relevant. Theoretically a digital solution is indeed possible to reach basic social benefits to people. But this would also need states to step up.
Yes the digital divide is an unfortunate reality. But with data rates falling, the Jio juggernaut rolling there is hope that this will be bridged.
At the moment the strategy seems to be to fill the legacy deficits--subsidy leakage, cooking gas, drinking water, electricity and so on. All of these are driven by the union govt programmes. Achieving this will be hugely transformative in itself.
Some states are indeed gearing up. But requires a lot more energy.
No easy task, but PDAs provide you an opportunity to leap frog.
A giant technological leap has been taken successfully but judging by the speed of change, the next big transition may not be too far away. There is always an amount of discomfort and resistance to change, especially from people who have been used to a system for decades but ultimately change usually stays. The online process for renewing driving license and vehicle insurance are some recent additions to the UPI. Today within 20 minutes one can make electronic payments for their monthly water, electricity, gas, MTNL,Tata Sky etc, bills. We have taken these conveniences for granted and have forgotten the time and energy spent for these unavoidable tasks; until of course being reminded after reading your very well composed article.
Dear Gautam, thank you for your remarks. Glad you reminded us about the drudgery of discharging monthly bills is now in our rear view mirror. And now India is looking to leapfrog using public digital assets. 🤞
Very interesting and informative article on PDA.e governance is the way forward and India is moving in the right direction. But due to our large population and the over dependence on primary sector for employment of our labour force, we can't ignore the digital divide and lack of internet facilities in remote areas.
As a teacher ,I fully agree to your views on digital India and its benefits. Online classes are here to stay .so much we have learnt in these last two years that we can't remain ignorant and its time for all to unlearn and relearn !!! But there are many students especially the EWS category who do not have devices or internet connections. So India has to increase its speed in this direction!!!
Dear Vandana, thank you for your comment and for framing the cons of the digital divide so well. You are right. This has been a big year of learning, especially from frontline personnel like teachers. Best. Anil
One of the finest pieces I have read in recent times. Amazing insights sir! Some points to ponder upon : what do you think could be the possible fallout of adopting e governance in every area of public delivery? Isn't digital divide/literacy still a issue in rural pockets? Is the internet penetration same in rural and urban India? Would be happy to learn the other side of our success story also .
Dear Adarsh,
Thank you so much for your kind words. Much appreciated.
Your questions are extremely relevant. Theoretically a digital solution is indeed possible to reach basic social benefits to people. But this would also need states to step up.
Yes the digital divide is an unfortunate reality. But with data rates falling, the Jio juggernaut rolling there is hope that this will be bridged.
At the moment the strategy seems to be to fill the legacy deficits--subsidy leakage, cooking gas, drinking water, electricity and so on. All of these are driven by the union govt programmes. Achieving this will be hugely transformative in itself.
Some states are indeed gearing up. But requires a lot more energy.
No easy task, but PDAs provide you an opportunity to leap frog.
Best
Anil
Brilliant insights Anil👏👏 so much to learn from your posts.
Thank you so much Kapil. 😊