80 crore out of poverty 'simply by smartphones': UN praises India's digital boom

 80 crore out of poverty 'simply by smartphones': UN praises India's digital boom

India has lifted 800 million (80 crore) people out of poverty in the past five to six years "simply by the use of smartphones" and people in rural parts of the country are able to make transactions instantly on their phones, UNGA President Dennis Francis said.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President Dennis Francis praised India for its digital revolution and focus on expanding banking services to rural parts of the country, saying 800 million (80 crore) Indians were lifted out of poverty in the past five to six years "simply by the use of smartphones".

He highlighted how people in rural India who earlier did not have access to banking or payment systems were now able to pay bills and receive payments for orders just by using a smartphone.

"Digitalisation provides the basis for rapid development (of a country). Take, for example, the case of India. India has been able to lift 800 million people out of poverty over the past five to six years simply by the use of smartphones," Francis said at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the topic of 'Accelerating progress towards Zero Hunger for the current and future generations'.

He underlined the high internet penetration in India, citing it as a major factor for the country to be able to benefit from the smartphone boom coupled with easy access to banking services. He also said that other Global South countries did not face such scenarios, unlike India, and called for steps to embrace digitalisation.

"Rural farmers in India who never had a relationship with the banking system, are now able to transact all their businesses on their smartphone. They pay their bills and receive payments for orders. There is a high level of internet penetration in India as almost everyone has a cellphone," he said.  

"But that is not the case in many parts of the Global South. So, there has to be equity demands. There has to be some effort and initiatives to address this inequality as an initial step in negotiating the global framework for digitalisation," he said.

Digitalisation has been one of the main focuses of the Narendra Modi-led government for the last 10 years. 

Following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in 2016, a spike in digital payment transactions has been witnessed since then, with UPI being a major contributor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to adopt digitalisation through the JAM initiative -- Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile. Under the initiative, lakhs of people have opened their bank accounts, including those in rural India.

The bank accounts have been linked with Aadhaar and people can avail various central government schemes and receive their payments directly into their bank accounts.   

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Over 95.15 per cent of villages have access to the internet (as of April)

Under the 'Digital India' initiative, the government has taken several initiatives to connect not only Metros but also tier-2 and tier-3 cities as well as rural and remote areas.