India is a country with over 22 official languages, with Hindi being the most spoken language. English is spoken quite well throughout, but it could hamper the growth of the country, which can be strengthened from the rural part of the country.
According to reports, Department of Electronics & Information Technology has sent a draft amendment to Bureau of Indian Standards to make all feature phones being sold in India, compatible with at least one local language.
Most of the smartphones these days come with multiple local language support, and some handset makers are already selling feature phones with local languages inbuilt. Such efforts are planned to be in sync with the Digital India campaign, because growth is not possible without clear communication. To connect everyone in the most disconnected areas in India, one must start from basics of communication.
Talking about the move, a senior Government official said, “It is critical to have digital content in Indian languages and for devices to be compatible with at least one Indian local language for Digital India to succeed.” BIS has to notify the same about compatibility before March, while the Department of Electronics & Information Technology has not yet decided on the timelines to make the handset makers aware of this.
Efforts from the Government
As part of the initiative, Government will have to translate all its websites from English to a local language which will require a lot of effort. They are trying to put a policy in place to generalize the translation process, which will be through machines having a database of regional languages.
Algorithms will be used to convert English to local language without getting rid of the meaning of the sentences. The Government has contemplated a timeline of next eight months to successfully translate all websites.
About 100 Central Government websites are expected to be converted into local languages. Once the handset makers are also able to include the local languages, readers will be able to access the websites in their choice of language.
Central and State Governments are working in tandem to make government services available through mobile applications and ease the application processes. Applications like Aadhaar, Passport, Pan card, Voter ID etc can all be accessed through mobile apps and from this year onwards, through preferred language.
Citizens staying in rural parts of the nation will heavily profit from this move, because they are usually deprived of all such important needs and technology. This will enable them to get access to government websites and information related to government services from the comfort of their homes.
Track in must accept comments in All 22 Indian Languages. Atleast comments in Hindi must be allowed.
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