Unmanageable Commitments

Making more announcements for newer plans while ignoring its own previous initiatives is not a smart move. The Modi government's final Budget briefly touched on the Digital India initiative launched with much fanfare around three years ago. Interim FM Piyush Goyal said the government would digitalise 100,000 villages over the next five years.

To bridge the digital divide these digital villages will be equipped with solar lighting systems, broadband connectivity, LED assembly units, etc. Making tall projections for setting up Digital Villages, a programme that took off in 2015 in Telangana, while conveniently ignoring other mega technology-driven programmes like Smart Cities and BharatNet only show that this government is constantly trying to bite off more than it can chew.