Technology to structure development

In a developing country like India, education, health and agriculture sectors have to work as brothers in arms to make an effective impact on the economy.
From the health point of view, since the majority of the Indian population is based in rural areas, the Government of India has the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in place to help increase the outreach of the healthcare delivery systems. Assuming that this mission is a success, one would expect the mortality rate to go down. Consequently, there would be not only an increase in the longevity of the population but also a steady growth of the population. As far as population is concerned, its growth has to be handled in such a manner that there are no deaths due to starvation whereas birth control measures should not lead to a dearth of “young working” population. So the two issues which come into forefront are that of imparting education to the young population and availability of food to feed the population.
There is no point in having a large uneducated population as they cannot be gainfully employed and unemployment is one of the key reasons for civil unrest. Also, not everyone is cut out for every sort of work. To maximize productivity, one needs to impart the right kind of education according to the capability of the person. For minimum level of education, the Government of India has launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to provide employment which is a not a self-sustainable model in the long run.
Availability of a “balanced diet” for the population is a big challenge for the Government. The National Food Security Mission (NSFM) had been setup but merely, providing food for survival is not sufficient, as it is a “balanced diet” which keeps a man healthy enough to be productive at work. With the existing Public Distribution Systems (PDS) for food and various schemes like mid-day meal for school going children and subsidized food for people living below poverty line (BPL), the government has not been really successful in achieving its goals due to rampant corruption prevailing in the country and lack of proper implementation of these schemes as they had been used as mere rhetoric for garnering votes.
In such a scenario, it is technology which can play a significant role in interweaving all the three sectors to have a synergetic effect. Merely having the latest technology is not the solution as one needs to innovate to make them adaptable for the ground users. But then social acceptance of such technologies is easier said than done in a country like India which has such a diverse population. One of the ways to achieve this is to tie-up technology companies with organizations like National Innovation Foundation (NIF) who scout around for innovative technologies at grass-root level. While business is the main driving force for the technology companies to innovate, the technologies developed at grass-root level are borne more out of necessity and have a local contextual outlook. It is the mating of the two ideologies which can together address the three sectors (health, education & agriculture) effectively as it has been found time and again that it is the user or the ultimate beneficiary who can provide the best solution or inputs to overcome the hurdles to their path of development.