Right to access Internet non-negotiable: Prasad

New Delhi, Dec 16: Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said the right to access the Internet is non-negotiable and that “walled gardens cannot be allowed”.
His comments came in the backdrop of US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) resolution rolling back net neutrality regulations adopted by the Obama Administration. The US regulator has suggested scrapping the rules that were targeted at treating all Internet services equally.
Speaking at the 4th Digital India organised by Times Network here this morning, Prasad said India today has a 'digital appetite and aspiration' and for digital inclusion of the vast populace “we need to have a Internet democracy to make it happen, He said.
“Without Internet inclusion there will be no digital inclusion,” he said.
The IT Minster said technology-based programmes like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ were designed to empower Indians. To give a further boost the government was promoting the BPO sector and many new such centres were being opened in the far-flung areas of the country.
“The various government schemes and plans under the Digital India banner are designed to help the poor and under-privileged gain access to the best that the digital world has to offer, ‘Prasad said.
He further said that startups were blooming and mobile manufacturing facilities have grown by 20 times and that at this rate, India will have a $1 trillion digital economy in just 8-10 years.
Describing a reversal in trend in attitude of technocrats passing out from prestigious technical institutions, Prasad said he was surprised to note that IIT graduates now preferred to set up their own start ups than to looking for campus placements in big companies.
Prasad also added that privacy matters very much and that India’s data protection law will be a ‘beacon for the whole world’. He spoke about how privacy law needs to be inclusive of technology and innovation.
He also asked the organizers, to involve, apart from companies, stake-holders and other, such people from remote villages of the country who have embraced technology in their businesses for earning livelihood, in events like this to drive home the point of digital India more forcefully. UNI