Patchy connections let down India\u2019s internet cover. Making govt payouts dependent fully on e-KYC warrants a rethink<\/p>\n
Adoption of tech has made governance smoother and more efficient. But direct cash transfers aren\u2019t the magic bullet promised \u2013 to a great extent because the state has replaced a direct interface with beneficiaries with electronic KYC: \u2018identity markers\u2019 on a computer screen. And the onus of ensuring these \u2018identity markers\u2019 are updated on govt portals is entirely on beneficiaries. Who, in turn, are dependent on availability of internet that remains inconsistent across rural India. Every e-KYC season, it\u2019s a scramble to locate a steady internet connection with reasonable speed for sufficient time.<\/p>\n
Therefore, as TOI reported, that in a Maharashtra village, of 100 women attempting to update details to avail a women\u2019s payout, just 5 received an OTP is not surprising. They walked 30 minutes to a point known to receive internet \u2013 a phone hung from a tree branch. It would be comical if people\u2019s earnings, livelihoods, weren\u2019t held hostage to it. Given this reality \u2013 no secret to any branch of govt \u2013 what is shocking is state\u2019s inflexibility, which made e-KYC mandatory without backup options. In Maharashtra, in this instance, deputy CM Ajit Pawar has said e-KYC is \u201cnon-negotiable\u201d. Challenges with Aadhaar-linked verification are not of internet availability only. But that poor internet coverage can stall beneficiaries from claiming their due highlights how tricky total surrender to tech can become.<\/p>\n
It is not about unreliable internet alone either. India leads in internet shutdowns \u2013 Sept alone saw shutdowns in Haryana (teacher\u2019s death), UP (Bareilly), Leh (Sonam Wangchuk\u2019s arrest), and in Oct in Cuttack (Durga puja immersion), while J&K continues to lead with maximum shutdowns, internet almost always blocked in some or the other district. It\u2019s like having piped water without water supply. Or power connections without electricity. Govts really have to ensure digital exclusion doesn\u2019t reverse strides made in financial inclusion \u2013 physical verification must not be binned altogether.<\/p>\n
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This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India. <\/p>\n
\n END OF ARTICLE\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patchy connections let down India\u2019s internet cover. Making govt payouts dependent fully on e-KYC warrants a rethink Adoption…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[64,63,38741,38742,237,105,129964,129965],"class_list":{"0":"post-211387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-edit-page-blog","11":"tag-india-blog","12":"tag-internet","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-toi-edit-blog","15":"tag-toi-editorials-blog"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}