E-hospital and telemedicine has come to serve the masses. Doctors can diagnose hundreds of patients and cost would be small. But providing medicines would be a big expenditure for the government, insurance plans can help. Welfare schemes have been made to provide for the poor. UIDAI, PDS and help for BPL families are major ways by which government can strive to give food rations to the poor. There are limitations, for government cannot control economy; it cannot try to control prices and not allow the market forces to operate. If it does, it stops economy from growing and stagnation may occur. We have to use our natural resources in an organized manner with partnerships with private enterprises to develop our country fast. Biggest resource we have in India is the human resource or manpower. They should be gainfully employed and e-livelihood is yet to be developed. How to provide jobs? By giving good education.
E-education using ICT- Education process can be enhanced using ICT. People can learn faster, teaching basic literate skills can be done by better use of computer. Students at school level can greatly benefit greatly. At college level education is made pertinent to the times we live in by teaching computer management, as essential part of the curriculum. Options like e-learning should for all students; recognition of open school and online exams will encourage mass literacy. Physical school and the making of its infrastructure are large expenditures, and the daily commute of students is time consuming. Now we can save all that expenditures by promoting e-learning. At last a good change has been brought deleting the rote-learning. Certification for online courses can be encouraged. College education has proliferated but can it give gainful employment to all graduating from them? It’s unanswered. Too many engineers and too many doctors are there and not enough employment, what is the solution? Sending many to places where they are needed. Searching for jobs, applying for jobs and getting jobs through the internet are now common.
Making of livelihoods. Employment opportunities for the educated and the uneducated is a major department which has to gear up to address the present crisis. When farming is not viable, other livelihoods have to be provided for people. In workplaces like factories, offices etc uneducated can be employed gainfully. Making of websites for those offices which act like employment exchange of old times is absolutely needed today. Many can be trained, and taught new skills. Many can move on to far places where they will get jobs. Other ICT solutions can help the average worker like the modern bank after he gets a job only the worker can have a bank account. But livelihood first; firms and factories will open accounts for their workers. Educated people are many many and are ready to handle the fast pace of ICT world.
E-banking will facilitate the worker who lives far far away from his home to send money back to his family through on-line transactions. Networks here develop fast as these are most needed right now. This is now growing in rural India, the family lives in the village and the worker moves to a metropolis where he gets a job and he supports his family which is living in rural India.
Improving livelihoods of common man is the ultimate goal of ICT solutions. For example fishermen can benefit if they could be sent sms messages regarding locations of fish shoals, and weather conditions and by GPS guidance can navigate him to safety. If we do not help him quickly we will lag behind others and opportunities to use food resource from sea (fish) would be lost forever. Those countries with better technologies will exhaust them before our fishermen could reach and thus we would have lost a valuable resource.
How to promote innovative growth? We have to make technology more affordable to the people by reducing taxes on telecom services and rates will be reduced by competition and further tax relief could be made for new ventures. Those firms can be encouraged which cater to the needs of the urban and rural areas and innovate as per changing exigencies. In the present scenario of economic slowdown, divide between developing and developed economies is widening. And if we lag now, we might not be able to catch up. And through ICT we can catch up with the developed world. We have a potential for advancement and growth for we have people who are educated and take new technology without hesitation and with ease. And now internet connectivity to rural areas has been established, they too can be developed swiftly.
E-governance which is implemented by the government will bring the country together, despite geographical barriers, regional and linguistic barriers. Problems faced by the people can be heard and addressed to directly, through access to government websites. Post offices, local municipalities, panchayats, gram sabas can all be accessed to/accessed from. This will be making the people closer to the formal institutions. Government will know exactly where the rural people are and how to reach them what their needs are and how to provide for them. This will greatly improve the relations of the government with its citizens. People can directly participate in the governance of the country because they can themselves access government websites and state their problems. Thus ICT technology has given democracy a new meaning as the people can reach the government directly. Democracy in India can be redefined as implementing technology for the people, for advancement of the people, by the government of the people.
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