Reduce dependence on foreign apps with agenda: Prasad

NEWDELHI: After the government banned 59 applications, mostly of Chinese origin, electronics and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the move will create an opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to create and innovate.

“In the wake of the ban that we have imposed, there is a great opportunity for Indian apps,” Prasad said on Wednesday. “Let us make this an ‘atmanirbhar bharat’ (‘self-reliant India). There are a large number of technological start-ups and minds that can make good apps. Let us reduce our dependence on their foreign apps that have their own agenda.”

The IT ministry issued the ban on 59 applications, including widely used video streaming service Tiktok, on Monday due “threats to national security”.

Prasad was speaking on the completion of five years of Digital India.

He also urged entrepreneurs such as Nandan Nilenkani and Debjani Ghosh, who were panelists at the event, to focus on three key parameters of digital development in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. Artificial Intelligence intervention in the sectors of health, education and agriculture, said Prasad, would go a long way to help the country handle the pandemic better.

“(We need to) Explore healthcare, which is a compelling sector in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Prasad said.