Using Tech to Empower Women and Children
I. The Vision of Digital Empowerment:
- Aligning with National Goals: The editorial would frame the use of technology for women and children’s empowerment as a crucial pillar of India’s broader vision for a “Digitally Empowered India” and the ambitious goal of “Viksit Bharat@2047.”
- Access as Empowerment: It would emphasize that empowerment begins with access – access to rights, services, protection, and opportunities – and technology acts as a powerful democratizer in this regard, especially for last-mile inclusion.
- Transparency and Efficiency: Technology enables real-time governance, reducing leakages and corruption, and streamlining the delivery of critical welfare services.
II. Key Initiatives and Tangible Outcomes:
The editorial would extensively list and commend specific government initiatives and their impact:
- Nutrition and Health (Poshan Abhiyan & Saksham Anganwadi):
- Poshan Tracker: This platform, integrated with over 1.4 million Anganwadi centers, allows for real-time data entry, performance monitoring, and evidence-based policy interventions for beneficiaries like pregnant women, lactating mothers, young children, and adolescent girls (over 10 crore registered beneficiaries). Its recognition with the PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration highlights its success.
- Saksham Anganwadi: The modernization of over 2 lakh Anganwadi centers with smart infrastructure and digital devices enhances the quality of nutrition, healthcare, and pre-school education delivery.
- Facial Recognition: Its introduction in Supplementary Nutrition Programs helps eliminate leakages and ensures benefits reach only eligible beneficiaries.
- Tangible Outcomes: The editorial would cite significant improvements like the Sex Ratio at Birth improving from 918 (2014-15) to 930 (2023-24) and the Maternal Mortality Rate declining from 130 (2014-16) to 97 per 1,000 births (2018-20), attributing these successes partly to tech-enabled interventions.
- Women’s Safety and Legal Empowerment (Mission Shakti, SHe-Box):
- SHe-Box Portal: This online platform provides a single window for lodging and tracking complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace, ensuring timely redressal.
- Mission Shakti Dashboard & App: These tools connect women in distress to nearby One-Stop Centres, integrating assistance and improving response times, thus enhancing safety and legal recourse.
- Maternal and Child Welfare (PMMVY, CARINGS, Mission Vatsalya):
- Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): A fully digital, Aadhaar-based system for registration and direct benefit transfers of financial assistance (₹5,000 for the first child, and ₹6,000 for a second girl child), promoting transparency and reducing leakages. Over ₹19,000 crore has been disbursed to 4 crore+ beneficiaries.
- CARINGS Portal: This platform digitizes and streamlines the child adoption process, making it more transparent and accessible.
- Mission Vatsalya Dashboard: Enhances coordination in child welfare, enabling better monitoring of child care institutions and tracking of rights violations by bodies like the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
- Broader Digital Public Infrastructure: The editorial would acknowledge the underlying role of India’s robust Digital Public Infrastructure (e.g., Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity, UPI) in facilitating financial inclusion and identity verification, which are foundational to many of these women and child-centric schemes.
III. Strengths of Tech-Enabled Empowerment:
- Transparency and Accountability: Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) and real-time monitoring significantly reduce corruption and leakages.
- Inclusivity and Reach: Technology bridges the urban-rural divide, ensuring that even remote and marginalized populations can access government services.
- Empowerment of Frontline Workers: Equipping Anganwadi workers with smartphones and training positions them as key agents of change, ensuring last-mile delivery and data collection.
- Evidence-Based Policymaking: Real-time data facilitates precise planning and targeted interventions.
IV. Challenges and the Way Forward:
Despite the successes, an editorial would also highlight critical challenges:
- Digital Literacy Gap: Many frontline workers, especially older ones, may struggle with new technologies and prefer traditional methods.
- Language Barriers: Software interfaces often default to English, limiting accessibility for a diverse workforce.
- Technical Limitations: Issues like lack of auto-update or delete options in some platforms can affect data accuracy.
- Infrastructure Gaps: Inconsistent internet connectivity and electricity in remote rural areas remain significant hurdles.
- User Adoption and Training: Continuous capacity building, user-centric design (making tools intuitive and regionally adaptable), and regular feedback mechanisms are crucial.
“The journey of leveraging technology to empower women and children in India represents a monumental step towards a more equitable and resilient society. The tangible improvements in health outcomes, safety mechanisms, and service delivery underscore the immense potential of purposeful digital transformation. However, true empowerment is not merely about access to gadgets but about genuine inclusion. The path ahead demands relentless focus on bridging the digital literacy gap, ensuring robust last-mile infrastructure, and designing technology that is truly user-centric and culturally sensitive. By continually investing in capacity building, fostering collaborative ecosystems, and prioritizing human-centered design, India can ensure that technology becomes not just a tool, but a true catalyst for justice, dignity, and flourishing lives for every woman and child, paving the way for a truly ‘Viksit Bharat’.”
