The Missing Links Of Digital Technologies

Digital services play an important role to provide nationals easy and handy access to discharge their day to day wants and access to the government’s various resources. Irrespective of public or private services, the world claims to be a digital technocrat now. At this point considering a unified, single window access to all digital services is of great interest.

In the Indian context, this is very important to notice that the public has to wander for finding the right resource for digital services. Be it Ayushman Bharat or Transport services, you need to do some manual tasks to accomplish a service. This is killing the time and money of the individuals. This can be also intentional and a placard of the authorities to keep people searching in between their promises.

Take an example of DTO services, to avail a DL you need to visit the office personally. If you need to have a Voter ID card, you have no choice left than visiting the designated office premises. 

Let us leave public sector banks, in private banks too, for a change in a/c holder’s name you need to visit the nearest branch with your hardcopy credentials. However, private banks in many ways far digitalized than public sector banks.

What a digital governance!

Numerous digital services are belonging to central and state authorities that don’t integrate each other. To name a few flagship programs are IRCTC, State Transport, Startup India, Make in India, Swachh Bharat Mission, etc. These services, information portals do not integrate each other and add to public harassment.

One, the biggest failure is the RTI portal, I think.

Since the last couple of years, it has been observed that politicos bring the flood of promises to come into power and finally they crush those public announcements in the trap of digital technologies.

Technology serves them to make people fool. Sometimes, it comes very errant when you try to fill up a form but the administrator is saying to download a .pdf file and deposit it to the concerned office.

Another problem lies with the digital signature. As of now, so many digital platforms don’t recognize digital signature which is very foolish and limits the scope of digital services.

Likewise, identification of a property or an individual physically is yet not unimportant. Google, the tech giant sends postcards to identify the postal address. Although, it has all the resources to identify a property remotely. This is ridiculous and boring.

I have a very interesting story in this regard. Once, I had to deal with the Land Reforms Department. Finally, the matter goes to the magistrate’s office and the magistrate ordered in my favor. I used to follow up on the case through the concerned portal. You will be shocked to know that the following order was published after a month only.

It can be also a scam if a department doesn’t integrate those services to another one. They try not to be exposed to some more risks. Linking resources may be dangerous for the ministry of coal and ministry of telecommunication because scams are likely to be exposed to an increased participation.

Sometimes, I feel that the scammers give a little benefit to the subscribers and become popular. Once they become popular the real game starts. Giving free calling and access to the internet at cheaper rates is one of those. Recently, Reliance Jio and Airtel increased their tariffs is one of the examples.

Why the government was subsidized the household gas and increased the prices after elections? This scam was all possible through the integration of technology. The motive was not monetary but the political gain.

Don’t you think that data on employment and economy is the brilliant game of governments across the world? Digital technologies also assist in compiling such data with a local look. In fact, it’s not all that technology responsible for this rather the human intention is more important.

Recently, I saw a documentary in which an old woman obtaining the garbage for resale in the streets of Manhattan. If the American government is so concerned and advanced in technology then why an elderly has to collect the pieces of shit?

The wise people call it a business strategy but I call it a scam!