How the Net will Bridge the Gap

For

the first time ever, much of India’s now billion-plus population is suddenly

aware of a website’s name and address. That’s some feat in a country with

one PC for 200 people.

A pity it had to happen around corruption, and that, in the process, it shook

up a nation’s immense faith in the armed forces. But it established that

information can make the difference to a population starved of it, and of

transparency, and hope.

Tehelka’s "sting-op" was more about months of plodding

investigative journalism than about the Internet. But the immediacy and

interactivity of the web helped. The story and transcripts were released

simultaneously, for people across the globe to browse and download. The

webserver itself was away from Indian jurisdiction and from possible attempts to

shut it down. People picked up and read in detail whatever concerned them the

most. And the feedback was immediate.

A flood of people responded on Tehelka.com and on other sites reporting the

expose. Most were strongly approving. Some offered to contribute, to carry such

investigations further. Others said they felt empowered as common people; that

the mightiest had been brought down.

It’s a preview of the power of the Net, even with such amazingly low

penetration in India.

The chief vigilance commissioner’s website lists corrupt officials’

names. Together with high-profile CBI raids of the type that happened in April

on top customs officers houses, we can hope for a time when corruption will at

least not be an acceptable fact of life at every level.

Government systems going online also help. A website tracks passport

applications, making unauthorized earnings a little more difficult. My extension

booklet still took four months, but the fact of documenting its movement forced

some transparency there. Now, if only this happened at the corrupt transport

directorates, forcing them to list license application status and results for

qualifying drivers. Those ad-hoc, bribe-inspired processes would surely be

drastically cut down.

Despite the power of TV and print, the web’s role will grow steadily in

public life. A mass of websites will help empower the common citizen. They’ll

include government and service company sites, personal websites by disgruntled

employees or customers, sites for the Indian consumer, and more. While the big

media houses will continue to be the big influencers–online and offline–building

up their reputations on credible reporting and analysis, the Internet will begin

to play an increasingly crucial role: of bridging a gap.

It will help bridge the information gap between the haves and have nots,

between rich and poor. It will help ensure that in an increasingly wired

society, there are fewer and fewer secrets.

Prasanto Kumar Roy