Information Society Watch
A Southern Lens on the Information SocietyUnpacking the knowledge economy – Whither knowledge society?
January 2004, Anita Gurumurthy, World Social Forum
The author strongly critiques India’s excessive emphasis on building an IT-savvy human resource pool, which has resulted in the diversion of resources away from the much more crucial expenditures on literacy and primary education. These are not just development goals in themselves but a must if the digital divide is not to widen rapidly. The extreme abdication of state responsibility to guarantee education is exemplified not only by the non-achievement of targets, but in the lack of will to improve quality of education, particularly of the marginalized. The author indicates that the euphoria over the IT-led knowledge economy in the country is increasingly being shown as misrepresented and misplaced, with gains largely accruing to transnational capital. The author concludes by contending that as things stand in 2004, the supportive environment needed to exploit the potential of ICTs does not exist in India.