All of these are vital issues and need resolution quickly. But, as the Bank points out, the bigger issue is of making Indians internet-ready in terms of their relative skill sets—that is, apart from not having access to the internet, these 900 million Indians are also digitally illiterate. What makes this even more tragic is that over 60% of India’s work-force is under threat of losing its job to automation—if it has not, this is only because their wages are very low or because the technology absorption is very low. While the jury is still out on whether Skill India is a total or a partial fiasco, it is clear that India cannot go into this century unless its citizens are much better equipped in terms of basic knowledge and in being able to deal with the impact of technology—a small set of digitally literate people striding ahead with millions losing their jobs to the march of technology is, in any case, a recipe for disaster. It is worth keeping in mind that while many Indian policy makers take solace in China’s increasing wages—another World Bank report projected 1.2 million jobs getting created as a result—increasing automation could well take away this advantage as well. Like the demographic one, the digital dividend could also turn out to be a disaster if not harnessed well.
