It may sound ridiculous right now, in 2017, but there was a time during the early 1980s, when computers were being introduced in the banking sector, and there were political parties who were opposing that.
And the logic was that computers will snatch away the jobs.
In fact, computers were called ‘capitalist evil’ in Kolkata, where the trade unions vehemently opposed computers.
Today, can we even imagine banking without computers?
Legend says that history repeats itself, and something similar we are witnessing in 2017.
India’s Road Transport Minister has banned all driverless cars in India, because, as per him, it will kill the jobs.
No Driverless Cars Because Jobs Will Be Lost
Nitin Gadkari, India’s road transport Minister has issued a strong statement against technology, automation and growth when he declared that no driverless cars would be allowed in India, as they are snatching away the jobs.
His statement said: “No driverless cars will be allowed in India. The government is not going to promote any technology or policy that will make people jobless.”
As per the Minister, the profession of driving can create 5 million jobs in India, and there is anyway a shortfall of 2.2 million jobs, which can be protected if the self-driving technology is not introduced in the country.
Directly, he blamed and accused cab aggregators such as Uber and Ola, stating that if they are thinking that they can make more money by introducing driverless cars, then they are wrong.
The Union Minister said, “Cab aggregators like Ola and Uber are making money by using our driving skills. If cab aggregators think they can make more money by introducing technology like driverless cars and render people unemployed, the government is not going to allow it.”
The State of Driverless Cars in India
As of now, Tata Motors is the only automobile company which has ‘dared’ to test self-driving cars in India.
We reported early this year that Tata Elxsi, which is a research division within Tata Motors, has re-designed some of the sedans, and equipped them with ‘Lidar radars, a stereoscopic camera and ultrasonic sensors’ to enable them to self-drive.
As per the last reports, they were collaborating with other car manufacturers to initiate self-driving car program in India.
Besides, Govt. of India has already approved ‘Driverless Metrino Pods’, which have been planned to link Delhi-Manesar with high-speed transportation.
Delhi Metro too has initiated plans to roll out driverless metro trains, starting October this year.
But, if the instructions of Minister Gadkari are indeed implemented, then we may not witness the revolution of self-driving cars, which is gripping entire world.
Do you think a developing country like India should not allow self-driving cars? Do let us know by commenting right here!