Digital Interventions for Empowering Indians at the Bottom of the Linguistic Pyramid
Abstract
The call for ‘Digital India’ has to be understood in the context of its geographic and sociolinguistic spread. With 692 million Internet users by the beginning of 2023, it is clear that these users who belong to different strata of our society felt the power of the Web. The January 2023 estimate shows 467 million social media users in India (or 32.8% of the total population). For this modern-day facility to reach the last mile, the current Internet penetration has to double the figure of 48.7%. It looks impressive when compared to the year 2000 figure of 1%. However, by the global statistics with 60% of users, and Europe as well as Central Asia figures being 87% (even Latin America and Caribbean Islands being 73% – 74%), India and South Asia still lag[1]. Disinformation and misinformation exemplify the wrong use of the Internet. It demonstrated the sharp rise, especially during and post-COVID-19. One needs to begin by sparking interest through ‘Permanent and Continuous Digital Interventions’ through two essential gateways – Digital Education and Digital Entrepreneurship. The current paper is a Narrative Review analysis of research literature on initiatives taken by state and non-state actors for cultivating digital learning and entrepreneurial environment in India, including the marginalized in these developments. The paper discusses the recommendations of researchers and current gaps, addressing linguistic interventions as a medium for increasing Internet penetration. A multilingual imagination in these two gateways, focusing on marginalized communities of India, can solidify the meaning of "Internet for Social Good" both in theory and action.
[1] All data acquired from the DataReportal online reference library. https://datareportal.com
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