Banking is another sector, where there were tremendous improvements due to computerization both in standards of service and access to the common man. We will be kidding ourselves if we don't acknowledge the fact that technology did succeed in bringing about many positive changes to our lives. But the question that ought to be asked is whether technology is the panacea for all our ills?

The state government takes enormous pride in stating that they have up to date information on anything that happens in the state at their fingertips. From the status of bore wells to implementation of schemes to the pass percentages of students in each of the districts for each class - in fact the administration revels in bombarding us with colourful statistics and power point presentations of the most mundane of data! The administration in fact revels in conducting vide conference reviews of every small thing no matter where it happens in the state and tries to control them from the capital. What's happening in reality is that under the guise of modern technology, more and more functions are becoming centralized. One would have thought that modern technology would encourage decentralization and empowerment of people, but unfortunately exactly the opposite is happening.

Connecting every class-room in the state is not going to help the child in the absence of a good teacher and a sound curriculum. The latest file tracking system is not going to improve the administrative machinery in the absence of proper accountability and transparency. In the same vein tele-medicine or the latest in tertiary care is no substitute for first class primary health care system.

Technology can make a lot of things feasible and possible. But it is up to us to make the best possible use of it and make it an enabling tool to empower people instead of using it as a tool for centralization.

 

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