Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India brought banking to a population of un-banked people that is greater than the population of the US, and introduced insurance to a population of uninsured people that is double the population of France. In such massive initiatives, India made sure no one was left behind, said PM Modi as he virtually addressed the Second United Nations World Geo-spatial International Congress organised in Hyderabad.
“We have been working on a vision of Antyodaya, which means empowering the last person at the last mile, in a mission mode. It is this vision that has guided us in last mile empowerment at a massive scale. Banking 450 million un-banked people, a population greater than that of the USA, insuring 135 million uninsured people, about twice the population of France, taking sanitation facilities to 110 million families, and tap water connections to over 60 million families, India is ensuring no one is left behind,” said PM Modi.
He said that the two pillars of technology and talent are the key to India’s development journey. “Technology brings transformation. Some of you may have heard that India is the world's number 1 in real-time digital payments. If you venture out, you will see even the smallest vendors accept, even prefer, digital payments,” he said, further adding that the country’s vaccine programme was powered by a tech platform.
PM Modi invoked JAM Trinity that delivered welfare benefits to 800 million people, the Svamitra scheme that uses drones to map properties in villages to give property cards to the people, the Digital Ocean platform that uses geo-spatial tech to manage the oceans.
“Our South Asia satellite has been enhancing connectivity and facilitating communication in our neighbourhood,” he said.
The Prime Minister then spoke about India’s talent pool. “We are among the top startup hubs in the world. Since 2021, we have almost doubled the number of unicorn startups. This is due to India's young talent. India is celebrating 75 years of freedom from colonial rule. One of the most important freedoms is the freedom to innovate. This has been ensured for the geo-spatial sector in India. We opened the sector up for our bright, young minds. All the data collected over two centuries suddenly became free and accessible,” he said.
He said that the space sector has opened up for private participation, and 5G has taken off as well. Drone technology will be a game-changer for young India too, he said.
PM Modi added that global organisations like the UN can lead the way in taking resources to the last mile in every region. The possibilities that geo-spatial technology offers to fight climate change are endless, he added.
“With the stakeholders of the global geo-spatial industry coming together, with the policy makers and academic world interacting with each other, I am confident that this conference will help steer the global village into a new future,” he said.
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