New Delhi: There was an environment of “indifference” towards the use of technology in governance before 2014 due to which the poor and the middle class suffered the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
He asserted the current government has ensured last-mile delivery of services with the help of technology, including drones.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating India’s biggest drone festival in Delhi, he said, “At a time when we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is my dream that everyone in India should have a smartphone in his or her hand, every farm should have a drone and every house should have prosperity.”
The enthusiasm being seen in India about drone technology is amazing and indicates possibilities of an emerging sector of employment generation, the prime minister said.
He said eight years ago “we started implementing new mantras of good governance”. “Walking on the path of minimum government and maximum governance, priority was given to ease of living and ease of doing business,” Modi said.
During the earlier governments, technology was considered a part of the problem and efforts were made to label it “anti-poor”, the prime minister said.
“Due to this, there was an environment of indifference towards the use of technology in governance before 2014. The poor, the deprived, the middle class suffered the most,” he said.
There was a time when people used to spend hours standing in line for rations. In the last seven to eight years, we have removed this hurdle with the help of technology, Modi said.
Claiming that earlier technological inventions were considered to be for the elite only, the prime minister said, “Today, we are ensuring that the masses are the first beneficiaries of any new technology. Drone technology is one such example.”