Prevalence of Access to Technology in India: Evidences from Census 2011 and MIS 2021

Role of technology in modern society is so much essential that life without access to technology, either digital or non-digital, shall remain impractical. However, prevalence of access to modern technology indicates disparities in developing countries like India. There are conspicuous evidences of ‘technology divide’ or ‘digital divide’ prevailing in India in terms of gender gap or rural-urban disparity or socio-economic inequality or geographical isolation regarding access to various forms of technology like computer, internet, radio, telephone (landline & mobile), television, air cooler/conditioner, other home utility machines/gadgets (e.g. water filter, electric cooker/boiler, microwave oven, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, refrigerator etc.), transport services & personal vehicles, banking & financial services and so on. For example, NSS data from 2017-18 states that among the poorest 20 per cent households in India, only 2.7 per cent have access to a computer. Moreover, only 8.9 per cent of the households are able to access internet facilities. The present study explores the prevalence of access to certain forms of technology on the basis of data given by the Census of India 2011 and the Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS), NSS 78th Round (2020-21) estimates. It seeks to find out any existence of technology divide and its prevalence in India using disparity measures. The findings of this study reveal that there are acute disparities in technological access across regions in India as well as cross sections of the population. The state must provide the necessary infrastructure, technical support and incentives to address the existing technological divide. Government policies nowadays to give technology access need to be group-specific or region-specific interventions rather than based on general norms.