PM addresses Post Budget Webinar on Ease of Living using Technology
“Today the positive effect of the policies and decisions of the
government is visible where it is needed the most”
“Today people do not see the government as an obstacle; rather, people see our
government as a catalyst for new opportunities. Certainly, technology has
played a big role in this”
“Citizens are easily able to convey their views to the government and get their
solution immediately”
“We are creating modern digital infrastructure in India while also ensuring
that the benefits of the digital revolution reach every section of the society”
“Can we identify 10 such problems of the society which can be solved by AI”
“The lack of trust between the government and the people is the result of a
mindset of slavery”
“We need to learn from global best practices to strengthen the trust with the
society”
The Prime
Minister, Narendra Modi, addressed a Post Budget Webinar on the subject of
‘Ease of Living using Technology’. It is the fifth of a series of 12
post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions
for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union
Budget 2023.
Addressing
the gathering, the Prime Minister said that India of the 21st century is
constantly empowering its citizens with the use of technology. He underlined
that every budget in the past few years has stressed the ease of living for
people with the help of technology. In this year’s budget, the Prime Minister
emphasised, the priority is given to technology and a human touch.
Highlighting
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. However, the
Prime Minister said that their entire life was spent in the absence of these
facilities. He also highlighted another section of people that wanted to move
ahead but were dragged down by pressure and obstacles created by government
intervention. 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 it is most necessary while making lives simpler and enhancing
the ease of living. He also noted that government intervention has been reduced
and citizens do not consider the government to be an obstacle. Instead, the
Prime Minister said that citizens are looking at the government as a catalyst
where technology plays a huge role.
The
Prime Minister elaborated upon the role of technology in this by giving
examples of One Nation One Ration Card and JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile)
trinity, Arogya Setu and CoWin App, railway reservation and Common Service Centres.
With these decisions, the Prime Minister said that the government has enhanced
the ease of living of the citizens.
The
Prime Minister also highlighted the popular feeling about ease of communication
with the government as the dialogue has become easy and people are getting
quick resolutions. He gave examples of the faceless resolution of Income tax
system-related grievances. “Now between your grievances and the redressal there
is no person, just technology”, he said. The Prime Minister asked various
departments to collectively think about using technology for solving their
problems and reaching global standards. “Going a step further, we can identify
the areas where dialogue with the government can be further eased”, he added.
The
Prime Minister touched upon Mission Karmyogi and informed that the government
employees are being trained with a view to becoming more citizen-centric. He
also emphasised the need to keep updating the training process and highlighted
that with modifications based on the feedback from the citizens, significant
improvement can be witnessed. The Prime Minister suggested creating a system
where feedback can be easily submitted to improve the training.
The
Prime Minister highlighted the equal opportunities that technology is providing
to everyone and said that the government is investing heavily in technology.
Along with creating modern digital infrastructure, the government is ensuring
that the benefits of digital infrastructure reach everyone equally. He
illustrated this by talking about the GeM portal that is giving a presence to small
businessmen and even street vendors in government procurement. Similarly, e-NAM
is allowing 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 emphasized the need to set a few targets. He asked about the
ways through which these technologies can be deployed for the welfare of the
common citizens, and the sectors to be focussed. “Can we identify 10 such
problems of the society which 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 organizations 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.
In
the last few years, the Prime Minister informed that several significant steps
have been taken to support MSMEs and stressed the need to brainstorm and
identify the obstacles faced by MSMEs. Highlighting that time is money in
business terms, the Prime Minister pointed out the government’s efforts to
reduce the compliance cost for small enterprises thereby reducing time. He
suggested that this is the correct time to make a list of unnecessary
compliances as the government has put an end to more than forty thousand
appliances in the past.
“The
lack of trust between the government and the people is the result of a mindset
of slavery”, the Prime Minister remarked as he pointed out that the government
has won back the trust of the citizens by decriminalizing petty offences and
becoming a loan guarantor for MSMEs. He also stressed gaining experience from
best practices around the world about the work carried out in other countries
to build trust between the government and citizens.
Highlighting
the role of technology, the Prime Minister pointed out that technology can help
in creating a finished product that can help in capturing the global market. He
suggested that one should not limit themselves to only the internet and digital
technology. Concluding the address, the Prime Minister stressed that the
success of the budget or any government policy depends on how well it is
prepared but also highlighted the importance of people's cooperation. He
referred to India’s talented youth, skilled manpower and willingness to adopt
technology in the villages and suggested finding ways to make the most out of
it. “You must discuss how to make the most out of the budget”, the Prime
Minister concluded.