Govt rebuts The Economist article on millions being left out of digital first solutions

The Centre has taken issue with international publication The Economist for a recent article which said that Indian government’s digital first solutions are inaccessible to millions

This article -- “India’s high-tech governance risks leaving behind its poorest citizens”-- published in print in the latest edition of The Economist had contended that India in its rush to become a modern digital economy, is leaving behind those who might benefit the most.

Centre’s comments

In a rejoinder to this article, the Union Information & Broadcasting and Sports & Youth Affairs Minister, Anurag Thakur, said that the article “betrays a severe lack of journalistic diligence and seems to have relied on guided reporting, resulting in a biased, and inaccurate piece which, in many instances has contradicted even the past reports” in Economist’s own esteemed publication.

In the rejoinder letter, seen by

BusinessLine , the government has laid out the actual facts to the various observations (made in the article) that did not present the true picture, according to the government.

In particular, the government has highlighted that the article misses some important facts about food security and the role of technology in ensuring rightful targeting of beneficiaries in India under the Targeted Public Distribution system (TPDS).

The Centre has also not accepted the contention that there are gaping holes in other government schemes such as it’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign and the functioning of its online service, CoWin platform.