Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has hailed government’s move to demonetise high-value denomination notes saying it will help to move from shadow to a more transparent economy. Speaking at the second lecture series of Niti Aayog on transforming India, Gates spoke on the host of issues ranging from technology to health, education and sanitation.
Technology: He is a great believer in technology but technology is only as powerful as the people who use it. Technology is only as flexible as the regulations and systems that enable it and technology are only sustainable if the world we live in is sustainable, too.
What India is trying to do no country has ever done before. India knows it has big challenges to address. It also has a government that is committed to solving them. A large and growing talent pool and many of the building blocks are in place to realise a truly world-class innovation economy. This is an amazing and pivotal moment in India’s history. If India focuses on the right things, it will improve the human condition at a scope and scale never witnessed before.
The potential benefit to India and to the world is incalculable. But India needs to seize these opportunities by making smart investments in the right things and by leveraging this country’s long administrative tradition in bold new ways. When it does, India will write a new chapter in the history books about how a people and a country can rise to big challenges.
Financial inclusion and demonetisation: The bold move to demonetise high-value denomination notes with higher security features is an important step to move away from a shadow economy to an even more transparent economy. Digital transactions will rise dramatically here. In next few years, India will become the most digitised economy, not just by size but by percentages. A more concerted shift to digital transactions will further enhance transparency and reduce leakage. India has all the pieces in place for a compelling vision for digital financial inclusion.
Embracing Innovation: Especially for a country the scale and size of India, waiting for others to come up with answers isn’t a realistic option. India has to find its own solutions – tailored to its own unique needs. Countries that embrace change and enable it with strong innovation ecosystems will be well-equipped to address their own domestic challenges and show others the path forward. For India to tackle some of its big domestic challenges and contribute to innovations globally, steady funding to build world-class research institutions is going to be critical.
Agriculture: It still employees the majority of Indian workforce. Over last half century India has made amazing progress through Green Revolution. But there are challenges. With growing population we need to solve malnutrition as well as address the challenge of climate change. Addressing these challenges and achieving the government’s vision of doubling farmer income by 2022 will require advances in science and technology to boost productivity.
Sanitation: Poor sanitation imposes a huge disease burden on India. The ineffective treatment and disposal of human waste contaminates India’s scarce water resources. The Prime Minister has drawn attention to this long-neglected issue by launching the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). The program has ambitious goals and the country is making commendable progress. But solving the sanitation problem will require technology innovation to move on from outdated, resource-intensive solutions that require large-scale underground networks and treatment plant.
(With agency inputs)
Also Read: Early morning tremors rattles Delhi NCR