CONNECT THE UNCONNECTED, INDIA WILL DEVELOP FASTER


Mukesh Devrari

The question of access to the information world cannot be seen in isolation. It is impossible for the nation-state to provide universal access to the internet and to various services through it with changing the wider situational realities of the common masses. Is it possible to provide smartphone and computer to a population which does not have anything to eat? Is it possible to provide access to the internet to the 25 per cent population which is illiterate? Is it possible to provide access to the internet for free of cost to each and every citizen? Even if universal access to the internet is ensured for free in third world countries like India, what purpose it will serve if more than 90 of the content available on the internet is in non-Indian languages.

 These are the hard questions which need hard answers. Recent reports in newspapers also highlight another disturbing report. Indian railways provided free internet services in many railway platforms across India. After analyzing the usage they find out that the network was mostly used porn sites and songs. In such a society will it make any sense to launch standalone schemes for providing free internet with catering to the other harsh realities.

Despite all our typical weaknesses, it makes sense to make access to internet universal. It should be the fundamental right. It must be part of the right to life (article 21). If the state shying away from it, then courts an also intervene. Article 21 has been expanded in past by the courts. It can be expanded in the future also.

Information is also a power. Connecting the unconnected can be a catalyst to bring the equitable distribution of power and wealth in society. As information, knowledge and access to ideas will not be an exclusive domain of those who can afford it. It will be universal. It is obvious that its impact will be very slow. It will not be drastic.

Not only that, but democracy will also be strengthened by it. There are many neutral platforms available to the common citizenry through the web world. It creates a perfect public sphere where people can participate in wider discourse and try to influence it in their own way. Recent US elections have taught us the power of the mainstream media to fix the agenda of the debate even during the elections is debatable.
  
This mediated communication has no future. We are moving towards an independent world where people might take control of the issues in their own hands and decide for themselves what is good or bad for them. In short, the pros heavily outweigh the cons of providing universal access to the internet. It is as important as food security, universal health care and universal human rights. It will give real power in the hands of common masses to involve themselves more in the creation of a common narrative for a nation-state. It will be the most powerful tools in their hands to change their destiny. It has the potential to drastically change the future prospects by circumventing the circumstantial reality around.
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