Need for technological awareness among indigenous people in Northeast borderlands: Report

Further integration of the indigenous people in Northeast borderlands online without adequate knowledge of the various impacts technology could have on them is incomprehensible, writes Suanmuanlian Tonsing, an author, in a report for Border Lens, an Assam based publication.

According to Tonsing, "this calls for people's awareness of technology use so that it does not become an instrument that could potentially cause vulnerabilities."

The statement by Tonsing Ravi comes after Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, recently argued, "The Digital India Programme (Digital Northeast vision 2022) is designed to transform India into a knowledge-based economy and a digitally empowered society by ensuring digital services, digital access, digital inclusion, digital empowerment and by bridging the digital divide."

These developments will ensure that more indigenous people in the Northeast borderlands move online.

People in the borderlands are, however, unaware of the various uses of digital technology and that their digital devices can carry important information such as medical, and banking details, information regarding the websites they visit and their personal conversations.

"The penetration of digital platforms into the borderlands means exposure to online communication and online trade through social media platforms. This also creates the space for access to much of the citizens' digital data interface for authorities. It is important to understand these developments in the backdrop of the Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP), which was introduced in the Parliament in 2019 and withdrawn later in August 2022," according to Tonsing in her report for Border Lens.

Digital rights are an extension of human rights. These rights work towards ensuring that companies and organisations do not infringe on indigenous peoples' privacy by selling their data to third parties, the report reads, addiing data privacy and protection while promoting an environment for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region, must ensure safeguards for the indigenous people.

Both companies and the government need to make the indigenous people aware of the overall impact of technology.

"To ensure their protection and as a way of upliftment, the government must ensure that people in the borderlands are equipped with quality education, knowledge and awareness to pursue their digital rights," wrote Tonsing for the Border Lens.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a visit to Agartala, highlighted the Centre's development push for the Northeast.

( With inputs from ANI )

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