In the poverty stricken Nangla Maachi slum in New Delhi, Sarai-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) along with Ankur, an NGO, provided the teenagers with computers way back in 1991. They started jotting down their daily dairies and basically articulated bits and pieces of their daily life on the computer. Sometime later the Delhi state government realized it has the responsibility of ‘developing’ the area so it began by demolishing the slum to lay foundation for a flyover. This “media lab” (as it was called) had to be shifted and since then, many from the slum continue to write regularly about their experiences of homelessness on a Hindi blog, which are translated into English by volunteers from the aforementioned organisations.
Yes, this is India, the land of stark contrasts and bitter irony. It is the country which flaunts 200 million cell phone connections but finds it difficult to hide its 250 million people who continue to languish below the internationally defined poverty line of earning one US dollar a day. The global scenario is changing rapidly with the advent of technology and India is evolving with it, but isn’t it a bit insensitive, if not obscene, for us to celebrate the boon that technology (specifically internet, means of telecommunication) has been? Our problem is that we have stopped looking outside the comforts of our urban cocooned existence.
Just one statistic will make it clear. In 2006 there were 40 phones for every 100 residents of cities like Delhi and Mumbai but at the same time teledensity in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Orissa was a pathetic two. Bridging this ‘digital divide’ between Bharat & India will not be an easy task as the socio-economic reality of rural India doesn’t makes the idea of adopting technology alluring.
There is always a kind of scepticism and mistrust that shrouds the ‘T’ word in India and for the masses to feel comfortable with the whole concept of imbibing technology in their daily lives spreading awareness about the ‘positive’ side to it is imperative. This ‘awareness’ again cannot be brought about by sustained PR campaigns (that’s effective only for family planning) on which the government spends a bomb each year without much success. It all boils down to basic primary education, which unfortunately the authorities have failed to provide. Most people will be shocked to know that in Asia, India has one of the highest drop-out rates for students in primary school. We as a society have to change this scenario upside down. Turning one Gurgaon into some sort of cyber city won’t absolve us our guilt.
We need to look at the bigger picture where Information technology & ‘IT enabled services’ will have a prominent role to play in the socio-economic development of the entire country. Technology, especially computers and the assortment of gizmos that accompany it can work wonders for our farmers. From helping them to keep an eye on the ‘market prices’ to educating them about the advanced farming techniques used in developed nations. It can open up a whole new world of opportunities for them. Realising this dream won’t be easy as we will have to start from scratch but hope for a better tomorrow might just be the inspiration that will drive us to success.
