Ease of Living using Technology
The topic of today’s budget webinar on National Science Day is very important. The changing India of the 21st century is continuously empowering its citizens with the power of technology. In the past years, in every budget of our government, emphasis has been laid on increasing the ease of living of the countrymen with the help of technology. In this budget also, it has been our endeavor to give priority to technology but at the same time human touch.
There was a time when there was a lot of contradiction in the priorities of the government in our country. There was such a section of the society, which wanted that there should be some intervention of the government at every step in their lives, that there should be influence of the government, that is, the government should do something for them. But during the previous governments, this class always felt the absence. In absence, life used to be spent in fighting. There was a class of such people in the society, it was of another type. The one who wanted to move forward with his own strength, but during the previous governments, this class also always felt the pressure, various obstacles of government interference at every step.
Due to the efforts of our government in the last few years, this situation has started changing. Today the positive effect of the policies and decisions of the government is visible everywhere where it is most needed.
Our efforts are making the lives of every poor and downtrodden easier, increasing their ease of living. The interference and pressure of the government in the lives of the people has also reduced. Today people do not consider the government as an obstacle in the way. Rather, people see our government as a catalyst for new opportunities. And certainly technology has played a big role in this.
You see, technology became the basis of “One Nation-One Ration Card” and due to this it was ensured that crores of poor people get ration transparently. And others who are migrant laborers. For migrant liberals, it has become a great blessing. Technology, Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and mobile all these three made it possible to send money directly to the bank accounts of crores of poor.
In the same way, technology, Aarogya Setu and Covin app became an important tool for it and this helped a lot in tracing and vaccination during Corona. We can see today that technology has made railway reservation more modern and the headache of the common man has been removed in this. The network of the Common Service Center is also connecting the poorest of the poor with government services with the help of technology.
Today every citizen of India is clearly feeling the change that how easy it has become to communicate with the government. That is, the countrymen are easily able to convey their message to the government, and they are also getting their solution immediately. As such, tax-related complaints used to be very high earlier, and because of that taxpayers were harassed in many ways. That’s why we have made the entire tax process faceless with the help of technology. Now there is no person, only technology between your complaints and their disposal. Here I have given you an example. But in other departments also with the help of technology we can solve problems in a better way. Different departments can use technology together to make their services of global standard. Taking this a step further, we can also identify areas where communication with the government can be further simplified.
Friends, you know that we are giving training to government employees through Mission Karmayogi. Our aim behind this training is to make the employees citizen-centric. There is a need to keep updating this training course. But it will get better results only when the changes are made on the basis of people’s feedback. We can create a system that keeps getting people’s suggestions to improve the training course.
Technology is giving everyone an equal opportunity to move forward by providing correct and accurate information to everyone. Our government is investing on a large scale to promote technology. We are creating modern digital infrastructure in India. Along with this, they are also ensuring that the benefits of digital revolution reach every section of the society. Today, the GeM portal has given this opportunity to even small shopkeepers or street vendors from far-flung places to sell their products directly to the government. e-NAM has given farmers an opportunity to connect with buyers from different places. Now farmers can get the best price for their produce while staying at one place.
Nowadays 5G and AI are being discussed for a long time. It is also being said that big changes are going to come in industry, medicine, education, agriculture and all other sectors. But now we have to set some specific goals for ourselves. What are the ways in which this technology can be used for the betterment of the common man? What are the sectors on which we need to pay more attention? Can we identify 10 problems of society that can be solved through AI? When Hackathons are held , they talk about solutions through technology in front of the youth of the country and lakhs of youths join and give very good solutions.
With the help of technology, we have brought the facility of DigiLocker for every individual, now there is facility of Digilocker for entities. Here companies, MSMEs can store their files, and share the same with various regulators and government departments. The concept of DigiLocker needs to be expanded further, we have to see in what other ways people can be benefited from it.
In the last few years, we have taken many important steps to support MSMEs. There is a need to brainstorm on the matter that what are the obstacles in becoming a big company for the small scale industries of India? We want to reduce the compliance cost for small businesses and small industries. You know that it is said in business that time is money. Therefore saving the time spent on compliance means saving the compliance cost. If you want to make a list of unnecessary compliances, then this is the right time, because we have already finished 40,000 compliances.
The lack of trust between peers, government and people is the result of a mindset of slavery. But today by de-criminalizing minor mistakes, and as a guarantor of MSME loans, the government has won the trust of the people. But we do not have to stop there, we also have to see what has been done in other countries of the world to strengthen the trust with the society. We can make similar efforts in our country by learning from them.
The success of the budget or any government policy depends to some extent on how well it is prepared. But more than this, the way of implementing it is important, people’s cooperation is very important in this. I am sure that with the input of all the stakeholders, Ease of Living will get a big boost. And I would definitely like to say that we say that we have to create a manufacturing hub. Zero defect, zero effect, this should be our priority. There should not be any compromise in our quality. And technology can help a lot in that. With the help of technology, we can bring the product in the very finish way till the minute details in the production. And only then we can capture the global market.
We have to accept that 21st century is technology driven. The influence of technology in life is going to increase a lot. Let us not limit ourselves only to internet and digital technology. In the same way as today the optical fiber network is reaching every village. Panchayats will reach, wellness centers will reach, telemedicine will run, even the health sector is also becoming completely technology driven. Today the country imports a lot of things like in defense in huge quantities. We also import a lot in health. Can’t the industrialists of my country go in that direction by upgrading technology ? And that’s why now optical fiber is reaching every village.
Unless private parties come to take services , they do not come with new software. What services can the common citizen take from that optical fibre, what benefits can he take. We can develop its model. And we want public participation in everything. It is neither our thinking nor our claim that the government has all the knowledge. And that’s why I urge all the stakeholders that the sooner we spread the 21st century, which is a technology-driven century, the sooner we make it simple, the sooner we empower the common man, the more the welfare of the country and the people . is about to happen and technology gives us a great strength in achieving the goal of a developed India in 2047. And we are fortunate that India has a natural gift.
We have talented youth, Skilled Manpower. And the people of India’s villages also have a huge capacity to adopt technology . How can we take advantage of this , I want you to discuss it in detail, discuss it in detail and how to get the best out of the budget that has come, how to get the best benefits out of it. The deeper your discussion on this, the more meaningful this budget will be.
(Excerpts of Prime Minister’s address at Post Budget Webinar on the subject of ‘Ease of Living using Technology’, on February 28. It is the fifth of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023).
