Here's what Narendra Modi needs to include in his technology agenda

The BJP-led government has an ambitious, broad-spectrum manifesto that hopes to address everything from nurturing startups to building 100 new high-tech cities. While its specific technology agenda is both well thought out and noble, there are some specific projects that appear to have been omitted -- those that that we believe should also be taken up on the country’s road toward economic and social actualisation.

Grassroots technology education 

More important than addressing the need for technology education at the grade school and college levels, I think the very excitement of experiencing technology work should happen much earlier. The government should subsidise and distribute simple electronic kits that practically demonstrate phenomena such as solar energy, propulsion, computing etc (many of these kits are already commercially available as hobby kits). When put in the hands of competent teachers, these kits can potentially fire up a passion in the subject that passive teaching can never match up to. 
 
These kits should be introduced to children as young as 5-6 years, while they’re on the threshold of knowledge and discovery themselves. Given that the present generation is already engulfed in so many information streams, the hands-on approach to discovering the field of science is a great way to ‘slow down the pace’, elicit an inquisitive attitude, and nurture young minds into growing accustomed to the fulfilment associated with building something useful.
 
Subsides in environment-protecting technologies 

With massive advancement in the fields of hybrid and electric vehicles, it is an opportune time for India to adopt these environment-friendly and technologically advanced trends. Luxury car sales in 2014 are slated to touch 50,000 this year, up 56% compared to 2013. Subsidies on hybrid and electric cars will result in numerous benefits to consumers (greater affordability), to manufacturers (higher sales volumes), and all this with environmental benefits to boot. 
 
Working backwards from here, steps should be taken to make this happen all the way up the procurement chain - whether it be moving manufacturing facilities locally, lowering or abolishing import duties, or creating infrastructure (a nationwide roll out of charging stations, for example) to support these new, forward-looking technologies. 
 
Broadband as a utility 

The importance of broadband connectivity is irrefutable. Instead of approaching the issue of broadband availability as an exercise in simply reducing entry and ongoing costs, it should be treated as a utility as implicit to economic and social advancement as water or electricity. While the BJP-led government in its manifesto does promise ‘Setting up a National Optical-Fibre Network up to the village level; and Wi-Fi zones in public areas’, these will only be of real value when people can expect the kind of robust and reliable level of service (well, for the most part) that is prevalent in other public utility services, at prices that are fair and approachable for every one of the country’s citizens. 
 
Even more important than fixed broadband services, it is the proliferation of wireless and cellular broadband that is going to truly drive the sea changes across the country. Every step needs to be taken to alleviate roadblocks associated with the allocation of spectrum. Simultaneously, the government should take steps to efficiently utilise existing technologies (eg. tapping unused TV white space frequencies for deploying broadband over wide areas across the country) to truly blanket the country with useable, affordable and fast network connectivity. 
 
A government-fronted cloud-based marketplace 

For all the artisans, farmers and small-scale manufacturers across the country, having a platform that extends the visibility and marketability of their trade to nationwide (and global) consumers could potentially be a game-changer to their lives and trade. Working in tandem with the government’s efforts around broadband proliferation and Internet banking for citizens already underway, this initiative would answer a pertinent question: “How can this connectivity help better my economic situation?”. Think of this as a government-run eBay. Basically a scalable, online platform that facilitates three aspects pertaining to trade:

a) a simple, effective payment gateway,

b) a language-agnostic user interface that enables users to build out a simple virtual store, and

c) a far-reaching and efficient courier network that is able to deliver products to any location in the country (and by extension, the world.)