A Good 'Score'

A 'score' is an archaic term meaning twenty.It was made historically famous by legendry US president Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address when he started that address by saying, Four 'scores' and seven years ago...meaning 87 years ago. He made Gettysburg Address in 1863 and what he was mentioning was the year 1776, when the US made declaration of independence from the Brits. Later Four 'scores' and four years later, India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru started his famous 'tryst with destiny' speech with the words, Years ago, we made a tryst with destiny'. Clearly the speech of Pandit Nehru was inspired from Gettysburg address of Lincoln, but he did not use the word, 'score'. Because, by then this word was out of use. Decade was more common to describe a bunch of years. And if he had started off by saying 'decades ago' the impact would have been surely less. The question arises, when the word became obsolete in Nehru's time, why use it now? The question is apt. But use of 'score' in this article is deliberate to describe two decades. Because, while we are going to discuss modern achievements, its roots are as primitive as the 'score'. This year, India is going to celebrate a 'score' or twenty years of mobile telephony. Mobile services started in India on 15th August 1995 in Delhi. In the last two decade the sector has grown like a blast. India now stand second largest user of mobiles in the world. It is second fastest growing internet user market piggybacking mobile revolution. Even in terms of revenue, it's third largest. And that has been achieved in mere two decades. That's 'good score' indeed. Consider the impediments. Mobile services started off with complete govt hold. And then came the National Telecom Policy, by Narsimha Rao govt. The sector faced innumerable challenges, was involved in several very huge scams, faced financial and technical challenges and still it got the good going. Starting with corporatisation of DoT, then stake sale in VSNL, thereafter preferential licencing during Vajpayee regime, 2G spectrum allocation scam during Manmohan Singh govt and mopping up govt revenues during Modi regime, the mobile sector in India has seen it all. Policy bungling by government, corporate greed leading to scam by industrialists and then fear of retrospective tax. Whether inadvertently or deliberately, efforts have been made to pull it down. Indian Judiciary also played a very big role. It struck down 2G spectrum allocation, the same spectrums which hugely helped mobile penetration across the nation, catapulted India to number two slot.Even the courts ordered removal of Mobile towers declaring them as health hazards. But, all those hindrances proved a booster. They helped the mobile sector rid off its black sheeps and march ahead. Now India is a big market of smartphones. Internet user base is expanding with help of mobiles. Value added services, app market have created a whole new arena for the youth. Commercial, social services are taking help of mobiles to reach out to the last Indian. The current government is giving huge push to digitization with mobile devices at the centre of thrust.Now your bank, hospital, office, entertainment, household devices, all are driven by your mobile. You get news from it, get connected to people through this, can pay your bills, even gauge your hear. Mobiles have also been working as social equalizer. Now everyone is using the same services without even thinking of their respective social standing. Despite being mostly driven by private capital, mobiles have been major employment avenues and are hugely contributing to public coffers in a huge way as seen in latest spectrum auctions. These tiny smart devices are new engines of growth. They are helping in social uplifting as well. And if we talk about drawbacks of having this successfull 'Score' of mobile revolution, there are many. They may have increased distance communication but they also have reduced inter personal communication inside four walls of a household. Along with helping with ease of doing things, mobiles have also led to broad basing of corruption, fraudulent filthy corporate practices also have piggybacked with it. It is perhaps for the drivers of this industry to rid it off the mal practices, its malaise, it's trouble making habits. Only then it will realize its true potential. Maybe India can become number one in this sphere. Till then, its "Good Score". Amen.