COGITO Talks… Click, Vote, Grow: How India is 'rural proofing' its future
About this episode
The episode discusses India's rapid rural transformation and its implications for development policy.
India's rural areas are developing at an extraordinary rate, and it poses both challenges and extraordinary opportunities to rethink development at a large scale. Across the OECD, over nine in ten households are now connected to the Internet, but in rural regions connectivity still lags behind, with only about 89% of rural households having even a basic broadband connection. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2024/11/oecd-digital-economy-outlook-2024-volume-2_9b2801fc.html India reflects these contrasts in its own way, but the speed of change is remarkable. Over the four years ending in December 2024, internet penetration in rural India surged from 59% to 78%, a jump that outpaced urban growth, which rose from 77% to 90% over the same period. https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/indias-rural-subscribers-to-primarily-drive-arpu-growth-in-fy26-crisil/121130745 Recorded live from the OECD Rural Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Shayne MacLachlan speaks with Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Secretary to the Government in the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, about how India’s fascinating track-record of rural transformation can offer practical…
People in this episode
Host: Shayne MacLachlan
Guest: Shahid Iqbal Choudhary
Topics covered
- rural development
- internet connectivity
- policy lessons
- India
- transformation
- OECD
Keywords
- rural areas
- internet penetration
- broadband connection
- development opportunities
- OECD
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: OECD
Places: India, Rio de Janeiro
More episodes of OECD Podcasts
- Governing AI in the Public Sector with NY State's Chief AI Officer Eleonore Fournier-Tombs
- Making good data easier to find and use with Google's Prem Ramaswami
- AI and the future of official statistics with André Loranger - Chief Statistician of Canada
- Fuel, fear and flights: How the tourism sector learned to withstand global shocks
- Life, the universe and Data Governance with OECD Chief Statistician Steve MacFeely
- Labels matter: Putting people over profit
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the OECD Podcasts podcast page.