New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India of the 21st century is constantly empowering its citizens with the use of technology. He also said that while creating modern digital infrastructure in India, the government is also ensuring that the benefits of the digital revolution reach every section of society.
Addressing a post-budget webinar on "Unleashing the Potential: Ease of Living Using Technology", fifth in a series of 12 post-budget webinars, the Prime Minister said that India is constantly empowering its citizens with the use of technology. In this year’s Budget, he emphasised that priority is given to technology and a human touch.
The webinars, organised by the government, seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023.
Pointing out the contradictions in the priorities of the previous governments, the Prime Minister recalled how a particular section of people always looked for government intervention and expected it to do good for the people.
"Their entire life was spent in the absence of these facilities. Another section of people that wanted to move ahead but were dragged down by pressure and obstacles created by the government intervention," he said.
The Prime Minister noted the changes that have taken place and said that the policies and their positive effects have been observed in situations where they are most necessary while making lives simpler and enhancing the ease of living.
"Government intervention has been reduced and citizens do not consider the government to be an obstacle. Instead, citizens are looking at the government as a catalyst where technology plays a huge role," Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister elaborated on the role of technology in improving ease of living by giving examples of One Nation, One Ration Card, JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhar, Mobile) trinity, Arogya Setu, CoWin App, railway reservations and common service centers. With these decisions, the Prime Minister said that the government has enhanced the ease of living for the citizens.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the popular feeling about the ease of communications with the government as the dialogue has become easy and people are getting quick resolutions. As a case in point, he cited the faceless resolution of income tax system-related grievances.
"Now between your grievances and the redressal there is no person, just technology," he said, asking various departments to consider using technology to solve problems and meet global standards.
"Going a step further, we can identify the areas where dialogue with the government can be further eased," Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that the government is investing heavily in technology and creating modern digital infrastructure. He said the government is ensuring that the benefits of digital infrastructure reach everyone equally.
He highlighted the role of technology in providing equal opportunities to everyone and cited the GeM portal, which allows small businessmen and even street vendors to participate in government procurement. Mr Modi also talked about e-NAM, which allows farmers to get linked with buyers at different places.
Referring to 5G and AI and their impact on industry, medicine, education and agriculture, the Prime Minister emphasised the need to set a few targets. He asked about the ways in which these technologies can be deployed for the welfare of common citizens. "Can we identify 10 such problems of the society that can be solved by AI?" he said.
Giving examples of the use of technology in the government, the Prime Minister touched upon the Digilocker services for entities, where companies and organisations can store their documents and also share them with government agencies. He suggested exploring ways to expand these services so that more people can benefit from them.
Mr Modi said that the government wants to reduce the cost of compliance for small businesses and asked the industry to formulate a list of unnecessary compliances that can be pruned.
"We want to reduce the compliance cost for small businesses. Can you (industry) formulate a list of unnecessary compliances that can be pruned. We have finished 40,000 compliances," the Prime Minister remarked as he pointed out that the government has won back the trust of the citizens by decriminalising petty offences and becoming a loan guarantor for MSMEs.
