Ever since Jean Jacques Rousseau in his magnum opus The Social Contract and Discourse pointed out the difference between natural and social inequalities (Beteille, 1977, pp. 3-4), sociologists have evinced more interest in the latter. Social inequality stems from wealth, prestige, and power in Indian society like other societies since time immemorial. Knowledge is an added dimension of the source of social inequality in an era of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and globalization. ICT is assumed to superimpose the digital divide on the traditional one. C.E Shannon has pointed out that information may be treated very much like a physical quantity, viz, mass, or energy. In 1953, Daniel Bell predicted that the information would succeed the raw materials, natural resources, and energy as a commodity. It has taken many decades to realize that the new wealth is neither money nor power but information and knowledge (Shah, 1999).
Daniel Bellwas amongst the first to talk of the emergence of an age characterized by heightened pressure and significance of information and knowledge. Though it is still difficult to think of postindustrial society in the case of India, where 75% of population still lives in villages and many people are not yet even touched by the information networks, one cannot deny the gradual but significant rise of such network (Deepak, 2006, pp, 7, 18-20).
Manuel Castells says that in his book which is entitled "The Information Age" between 1996 and 1998. Manuel Castells' theory of network society provides a broader framework for the analyses of very diverse phenomenon ranging from the globalization of production to renewable of democracy at the local level. Castells argues that the concepts of postindustrial society or information society are inadequate to frame the present. These concepts are replaced by the "network society".
Different types of Digital Divide:
There are several types of digital divides.
Regional digital divide:
Urban-Rural digital divide:
Caste/Tribal:
The base of the economy:
Gender digital divide:
India is a Patriarchy Society nation. Still, here women are kept behind the front of society. ICT accessibility of women wider gap as compared to men. At the same time, almost 71% of Internet users are men, as compare to 29% female.
Economical Digital Divide:
Today 20.9% of the total population of India under the Below Poverty Line(BPL) means that approx. 3 million people who have earned only 32 rupees or less than 32 rupees . These people have not equipped with minimum basic facilities. So, India has a great digital gap in the context of economical status. Rich people who have a lot of many to buy advanced ICT devices, but on another hand most people minimum ICT devices to work.
Literacy Digital Divide:
According to NSO today Literacy Rate of India 77.7%. We can easily say that an educated person can use the internet or mobile in a beneficial way than an uneducated person. There are still many people who have not to know how to surf the internet especially aged people.
Digital inclusive policies in India
One of the major concerns of the Governments in developed and developing region has always been to ensure the accessibility and availability of information and public services without much hassle. State governments in India have been actively involved with some IT-oriented and e-method projects in an effort to bridge the digital divide between the backward section and forward section, some of which are discussed as follows.
CARD Project
The Computer-Aided Administration of Registration Department (CARD) project initiated by the government of Andhra Pradesh illustrates the effective use of Information Technology (IT) and e-service to improve public-government interface. Under this project, land registration offices throughout Andhra Pradesh are now provided with computerized counters. Citizens can now complete registration formalities without much hassle (Pannu, 2010, p. 107)
Sourkaryan and E–Seva
The Sourkaryan project of the Andhra Pradesh Government has been very popular and helpful among the people of Andhra Pradesh. Sourkaryan project, which is now operational in the Visakhapatnam city provides the facility for the people of the city to pay property taxes online mode and also view details of various plans and projects of the government and local bodies. Similarly, the E–SevaKendras in the Hyderabad state the city is an innovative experiment towards eliminating personal contact between citizens and the bureaucracy. Here a citizen can pay sales taxes, insurance premiums, revenue tax, GST property taxes, land taxes, etc. Additionally, the Andhra Pradesh government has formulated a prolonged strategy to further the prospect of e-Governance in the state. In a major attempt to bring remote rural areas into the information technology fold, the first “Cyber Grameen,” a rural broadband venture, was started. This project has been launched by a non– governmental organization, “Swarn Bharat Trust,” basically to set up IT convergence hubs in rural areas of the country. By harnessing the power of rural internet broadband the “Cyber Grameen” seeks to provide a range of applications and services to stimulate rural economies. The services provided include telephony, telemedicine, distance learning, e– mail, digital entertainment, and delivery of government services and information (Pannu, 2010, pp, 107-108).
The Bhoomi Project
The Bhoomi Project of Karnataka state covers 67 lakhs farmers and holds millions of records of land ownership. The project has earned the cooperative of many people and also many international funding agencies and organizations. This project has reduced the delaying involvement in interacting with the bureaucratic hierarchy of the state revenue department. Land information Center (Bhoomi Centres) are located all over the state. Any land record can be reviewed through a touch screen at these kiosks; the project can also be used as a databank for various projects of public and private sector organizations. The project has won the "Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management"(CAPAM) award in 2002 for creating “self-content governance and opening up new frontiers” which make a simple way of interaction. Both the UNDP and the World Bank have lauded Bhoomi for ambitious imaginative and prescient and implementation. With the success of the "Bhoomi project" other states of India, viz. Tamil Naidu, Maharastra, and Madya Pradesh have started evolving models based on Bhoomi in their respective states (Pannu, 2010, pp, 107-108).
The Gyandoot Project
Gyandoot, which literally means “Knowledge Messenger,” is the first-ever project in India for a rural information network in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh which has the highest percentage of tribes and dense forest. Every village has a computer center or “Soochnalayas” at prominent market places or major roads. People can easily log in and complain or request information on crops, forest fields, water resources, etc. of the district. Twenty–one village Panchayats in the District have been connected with computers or information centers; several private-sector information centers called “Soochnalays” have also been opened. One such popular center is in “Manwar Agriculture Mandi,” where the latest crop prices are made available to the farmers. The land records of some Tehsils of district Dhar are also available online. Also, Internet connections have been provided to people for getting global information by linking to the internet or digital market. The government of Madhya Pradesh is making attempts to make "Gyandoot" a great success by extending it to other districts. The Madhya Pradesh state is in the process of starting 7,800 IT kiosks (centers) with the help of the non-government sector. To train common people to be computer literate, 7,500 “Jan Shiksha” public instruction centers have also been identified, and policy is being formulated to bring IT to the common people’s needs and benefits. Efforts are also being made by the government to involve public libraries in this project. In fact, public libraries can play a vital role in making the program successful by acting as information centers (Soochnalayas) for the Gyandoot Project. For this to occur, a Public Libraries and Information Centers Act needs to be passed. Also, strong will and commitment among the professionals and policymakers are required. Many Experts expected that the Gyandoot Project will play a vital role in bridging the digital divide between the urban and the rural people. The village people under their remoteness will no longer be technologically behind. The Project will be of very helpful to the farmers to get better and scientific knowledge for crop yield by providing information on time to them. e-Voice and e-Chat will helpful to bring farmers and experts are come face-to-face interaction to solve problems in agriculture and farming. This project has won international acclaim and the 2000 Stockholm challenge award for its imaginative approach to the problems of development and government at the root level (Pannu, 2010, pp, 107-108).
FRIENDS Project
The Fast, Reliable, Instant Efficient Network for The disbursement of Services (FRIENDS) Project has been launched by the state of Kerela in the southern part of the country to mitigate the hardship of citizens paying taxes by eliminating middlemen, delays, and long queues. Essentially, FRIENDS is a centralized collection counter which accepts almost all types of tax and utility payments. The Beneficiaries of this project around 1.3 Crorein 12 districts of the state of Kerala. The basic philosophy of FRIENDS project is to treat citizens as valuable persons. Similarly in Tamil Naidu state a private outfit “N Louge” offering low-cost telecom–solutions have worked wonders in Madurai districts by using the local loop technology and making available fiber-optic lines running across the district, by helping private entrepreneurs run services including that of e– governance (Pannu, 2010, pp, 107-108).
Lokamitra/Smart Project
Himachal Pradesh (HP), the hill state of the country, has initiated the Lokamitra project with grants from NABARD to provide the general public, especially those living in distant rural areas, easy access to government information and facilities of e– governance to their doorsteps. Lokamitra “SoochnalayaKendras” (information centers) have been set up in 25 panchayat areas run by unemployed youth. These “SoochnalayaKendras” provide current information relating to the district and government information of the state of Himachal Pradesh. The government of Himachal Pradesh (HP) has also developed an "IT Vision 2010" in collaboration with National Association of Software Companies (NASSCOM) to convert the hill state into an IT destination and also make Simple– Moral–Accessible–Responsive and Transparent (SMART) Government (Neena Singh, http://www.worlib.org/singh.shtml).
Conclusion
The government must focus on digitally inclusive policies. The government of India has launched an ambitious project “digital India”. The imagination of digital India in information society would be a reality if the neglected section of society is included in it. Using ICT for the empowerment of the poor and lead them to the road to prosperity, Govt. policy should be poorly oriented rather than corporate-oriented that prevent many poor people from making use of ICT for their empowerment.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
○Like our Facebook page
○ For any Doubt contact us
https://www.facebook.com/hubsociology/
- By HUB SOCIOLOGY
Comments
Post a Comment