I am of a strong conviction that the best that contemporary governments can do is to work towards a society where barriers to internet access is eradicated rather than restricted.

Integrating the internet into the electoral and governance processes can lead to a country where it is feasible to focus on local governance with concrete expectations and outcomes rather than the narrative-driven mess that an emphasis on state and national governance has and will leave continue to leave us in.

Curriculums in schools should have responsible use of the internet as a mandatory part of children's education. And more importantly, a use of social media and other internet-related services is a skill that will prove invaluable to them irrespective of what they end up doing in the future.

India has nearly 830 million internet subscribers according to data from TRAI.

I recognise the gaps in this line of thinking because things like provision of housing, poverty reduction, electrification, access to education, healthcare and drinking water and of course, infrastructure development will be things that rank higher in priority when it comes to budgetary allocations.

But a Government spending absolutely zero money or time on developing the internet infrastructure of the country cannot be acceptable in the world we live in.

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