nitinpahuja
Nitin Pahuja
It is very often that a discussion about India’s growth story finds a negative tone around the issue of disparate economic growth. India with a massive population might have taken big strides towards rapid economic development but it cannot be termed as inclusive by any stretch of imagination. Disparity in income levels and the consequent standards of living has been a trademark of India’s growth story thus far & chances are that it will persist to be so unless something is done in this direction.
Analysing the Indian growth story one can easily establish that it has been the empowered lot of IT professionals or first generation entrepreneur’s who have contributed the most to the Indian growth story. There empowerment has been expedited by the virtue of quality education and exposure to the dynamic gloablized world sprinting on the wheels of technology. Technology has stood out as the primary expedient of growth all around the world especially when it comes to providing a favourable environment in terms of infrastructure, governance and allied activities of commerce. If we have a look carefully we can realize the fact that income disparities have been directly related with technological access disparities. The urban areas have had access to technological developments while the rural or the semiurban areas are still lagging behind. They don’t have access to proper means of communication, no access to information, non availability of physical and cyber infrastructure. These factors coupled with the inherent disadvantage of demographics in the Indian rural terrain have scripted the story of income disparity as the characteristic feature of the Indian economy. If we look at the root level, education and access to financial services stand out as the primary stimulants to empowerment, and technology lays a major part in providing the both of these. Let us individually analyse the factors that if addressed can facilitate equitable growth with respect to these two prongs.
EDUCATION
Education has stood out as the most potent tool of empowering people but the traditional methods of teaching have impeded comprehensive coverage over the country. The focus on imparting education through the traditional class room method has remained ineffective amidst the paucity of physical infrastructure and efficient staff. The government has spent huge corpus on developing the education sector in rural India however the major chunk of that amount has been either gobbled up by the corrupt personnel or has been the victim of inefficient application at the ground level. It is time that the government comes to terms with the inherent advantage that technology oriented e-learning enjoys over traditional methods of teaching. It is not difficult to understand the fact that it is far easier & cheap to raise cyber infrastructure in comparison to physical infrastructure for education. Cyber infrastructure once developed can have pervasive application all over the country however the cost of raising physical IT infrastructure is indeed unavoidable. With the advent of new technologies such as WiMAX and other wireless communication technologies, it’s inevitable that the country would be connected on the whole very soon. We must start thinking about E-Learning taking precedence in our efforts to provide education on a comprehensive basis in the country as it has the potential to have a broader reach and can be more effective in terms of implementation at every level. It is therefore by working towards technological parity that we can work towards empowerment and thus towards removing income inequalities.
Financial Services
Financial services in the form of Banks, Insurance, loans, Investment opportunities ensemble an important facet of the Indian growth story or the growth story of any economy for that matter. The availability of effective financial services provides the consumer with the power of exercising different options that are available. The financial autonomy that one enjoys in terms of having access to risk free investments, effective insurance cover alongside the availability of customized loans is indeed a critical factor which leads to inclusive growth in the society. Financial inclusion has been reemphasized by various commentators as the primary tool for financial growth of the rural sector but we have achieved very less in this field as of now. With the arrival of microfinance institutions with growing coverage of bank branches in the country, things have improved but a lot still needs to be achieved.
Technology can facilitate the expansion of financial services in a big way as well. The tremendous increase in participation in the capital markets with the advent of dematerialization and online access to transactions and records stands as testament to the potent role that technology can play. The massive success that E- Choupals have seen in the rural sector should wipe off any doubts that question the effective utilization of technology in empowering people nation wide. Our experience with the expansion of banking services tells us that it is increasingly difficult & expensive to raise physical infrastructure alongside it being time consuming. Today we stand at a crucial juncture where it is imperative for the rural India to integrate itself with the mainstream India and contribute towards the common goal of development. It is thus very important that the rural sector gains access to financial service very quickly. We must raise the required IT infrastructure that can be leveraged for providing information to the rural India alongside being a focal point for the major players in the sector to compete and capture the untapped market of rural India. We must ensure that rural India gets favourable economic climate so that we get new entrepreneurs and business leaders from rural India. Agriculture being the major occupation in India must have access to specially designed financial products in the form of climate insurance and long term and low interest loans. Several studies across the world and India have reemphasized the lucrativeness of the rural market thus it is strategically viable for even the private players to take the lead and provide financial power to the rural geography which makes perfect business sense.
In the end I would like to conclude by emphasizing the fact that if we are able to achieve technological parity in the above mentioned fields, India would soon recover from the perennial problems of unemployment, income disparities and Illiteracy.
Analysing the Indian growth story one can easily establish that it has been the empowered lot of IT professionals or first generation entrepreneur’s who have contributed the most to the Indian growth story. There empowerment has been expedited by the virtue of quality education and exposure to the dynamic gloablized world sprinting on the wheels of technology. Technology has stood out as the primary expedient of growth all around the world especially when it comes to providing a favourable environment in terms of infrastructure, governance and allied activities of commerce. If we have a look carefully we can realize the fact that income disparities have been directly related with technological access disparities. The urban areas have had access to technological developments while the rural or the semiurban areas are still lagging behind. They don’t have access to proper means of communication, no access to information, non availability of physical and cyber infrastructure. These factors coupled with the inherent disadvantage of demographics in the Indian rural terrain have scripted the story of income disparity as the characteristic feature of the Indian economy. If we look at the root level, education and access to financial services stand out as the primary stimulants to empowerment, and technology lays a major part in providing the both of these. Let us individually analyse the factors that if addressed can facilitate equitable growth with respect to these two prongs.
EDUCATION
Education has stood out as the most potent tool of empowering people but the traditional methods of teaching have impeded comprehensive coverage over the country. The focus on imparting education through the traditional class room method has remained ineffective amidst the paucity of physical infrastructure and efficient staff. The government has spent huge corpus on developing the education sector in rural India however the major chunk of that amount has been either gobbled up by the corrupt personnel or has been the victim of inefficient application at the ground level. It is time that the government comes to terms with the inherent advantage that technology oriented e-learning enjoys over traditional methods of teaching. It is not difficult to understand the fact that it is far easier & cheap to raise cyber infrastructure in comparison to physical infrastructure for education. Cyber infrastructure once developed can have pervasive application all over the country however the cost of raising physical IT infrastructure is indeed unavoidable. With the advent of new technologies such as WiMAX and other wireless communication technologies, it’s inevitable that the country would be connected on the whole very soon. We must start thinking about E-Learning taking precedence in our efforts to provide education on a comprehensive basis in the country as it has the potential to have a broader reach and can be more effective in terms of implementation at every level. It is therefore by working towards technological parity that we can work towards empowerment and thus towards removing income inequalities.
Financial Services
Financial services in the form of Banks, Insurance, loans, Investment opportunities ensemble an important facet of the Indian growth story or the growth story of any economy for that matter. The availability of effective financial services provides the consumer with the power of exercising different options that are available. The financial autonomy that one enjoys in terms of having access to risk free investments, effective insurance cover alongside the availability of customized loans is indeed a critical factor which leads to inclusive growth in the society. Financial inclusion has been reemphasized by various commentators as the primary tool for financial growth of the rural sector but we have achieved very less in this field as of now. With the arrival of microfinance institutions with growing coverage of bank branches in the country, things have improved but a lot still needs to be achieved.
Technology can facilitate the expansion of financial services in a big way as well. The tremendous increase in participation in the capital markets with the advent of dematerialization and online access to transactions and records stands as testament to the potent role that technology can play. The massive success that E- Choupals have seen in the rural sector should wipe off any doubts that question the effective utilization of technology in empowering people nation wide. Our experience with the expansion of banking services tells us that it is increasingly difficult & expensive to raise physical infrastructure alongside it being time consuming. Today we stand at a crucial juncture where it is imperative for the rural India to integrate itself with the mainstream India and contribute towards the common goal of development. It is thus very important that the rural sector gains access to financial service very quickly. We must raise the required IT infrastructure that can be leveraged for providing information to the rural India alongside being a focal point for the major players in the sector to compete and capture the untapped market of rural India. We must ensure that rural India gets favourable economic climate so that we get new entrepreneurs and business leaders from rural India. Agriculture being the major occupation in India must have access to specially designed financial products in the form of climate insurance and long term and low interest loans. Several studies across the world and India have reemphasized the lucrativeness of the rural market thus it is strategically viable for even the private players to take the lead and provide financial power to the rural geography which makes perfect business sense.
In the end I would like to conclude by emphasizing the fact that if we are able to achieve technological parity in the above mentioned fields, India would soon recover from the perennial problems of unemployment, income disparities and Illiteracy.