New Delhi: For a country that produces tens of thousands of software engineers and IT professionals, enough to power tech giants around the world, India still cannot seem to build government websites that function. India’s digital paradox has caught the attention of the world media.
In a column titled—Why can’t India’s government build a decent website—The Economist says the problem lies not in web design, but in institutional design.
Highlighting the problems users often face while using government websites, the column adds, “They feature a sadistic mix of pop-ups, moving text, flashing graphics, ministerial portraits and antique elements like text-based Captchas, a bot-prevention tool that these days only thwarts humans.”
India’s approach has long been to reproduce paper processes in digital form rather than rethinking them altogether, it says. “The concept of UX—a jargon coined in 1993 to mean designing things to ease the user’s experience—did not enter the official guidelines for government websites until 2023.”
Another reason for the dysfunctional website interfaces, says the article, is the “lack of autonomy”. The National Informatics Centre, government’s in-house tech provider, has little wiggle room to push back against the demands of ministries that determine the layout of the website in the first place, it says.
However, the real problem, according to The Economist, is one of institutional design.
“Officials worried about anti-corruption bodies award contracts to the lowest bidder despite having the discretion to weigh up other factors. They splurge on top-tier consultants because it gives them cover for their decisions. A bureaucrat who takes a risk and produces a terrific outcome gets no reward. One who does a bad job the correct way pays no penalty,” the column notes.
India’s economy
The Economist also says that India has “shrugged off” the impact of the US-Iran war, and the country’s growth rate has surprised many economists who projected a considerable dip in the Indian economy following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Output was 5.1% higher than a year ago, and up from 4.9% in April, according to the latest release from the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation,” the magazine says in another article titled “India’s industrial engine surprises”.
Last month, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation changed the earlier existing framework to include finer details on each industrial sector’s performance. “The surge in output came from higher production of cars and other vehicles, as well as increased electricity output. Renewable electricity output was 18% higher than the previous year while gas supply was down 7%.”
Liver Doc’s online tirades vs offline patient care
India’s “Liver Doc” is drawing global attention with his online criticism of Ayurvedic medicine and homeopathy. However, back home in Kochi, Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips, aka Liver Doc, is the picture of calm and composure.
“A patient sits across from him. Philips leans forward, asks a question, then falls silent. He listens – really listens. When he speaks again, his assessment is candid but delivered with compassion. He doesn’t simply tell the family what comes next; he carefully walks them through the road ahead,” Vikas Pandey of BBC reports in an article titled Loved and loathed: The making of India’s viral liver doctor.
“Philips is one of India’s best-known – and most polarising – doctors online: admired by supporters as a fearless champion of evidence-based medicine, reviled by critics as an attention-seeking provocateur.”
On X, where over 300,000 people follow him, he has called homeopathy “false medicine”, and told critics their brains were “for rent”.
“His feed is packed with public health information, but also with bitter feuds – including with celebrities – conducted in a style many describe as rude,” Pandey reports.
In India, Liver Doc is making waves. The Ayush Ministry, the government funded traditional medicine research institute, has had two committee meetings just to discuss him. “Yet the man behind the social media persona seemed markedly different in person.
“During our conversation, he came across as measured and soft-spoken. Long-term patients, colleagues and doctors who know him also described him in similar terms: polite, unassuming and courteous,” Pandey reports.
“Sometimes you must make loud noises to be heard. I specially go after trolls, so they cannot deviate the attention from the message I am trying to give. If people think I’m rude or ill-tempered, even though it isn’t true, I’m willing to pay that price,” Philips told the BBC.
Amazon’s biggest AI investment in India
Veena Venugopal writes in Financial Times about Amazon’s push for AI investment in India. “A little over six months after announcing it would invest $35bn in India, Amazon last week decided to raise that figure by a further $13bn, making it one of the largest investors in the AI and data-centre space in the country,” she writes in the India Business Briefing newsletter of FT.
Amazon’s cumulative investment in India between 2010-2030 stands at USD 88 billion. The AI investment comes at a time when the company is also driving a hard bargain to become the quick commerce superstar of India by offering services across 300 cities in the country.
“It has also pledged to support 3.8mn jobs, launch 20 new fulfilment centres for its ecommerce business, and open 100 last-mile delivery stations across India,” Venugopal writes.
Amazon is only one of the many players flocking to India to build data centers quickly. “Amazon’s $48bn adds to Google’s $15bn, committed over five years from 2026 to 2030 to establish a comprehensive AI ecosystem anchored in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, and Meta’s partnership with Reliance Industries in Jamnagar, Gujarat.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)