The glamorous veneer of free Wi-Fi on Indian Railways
The final error of Wi-Fi on trains lies in the 'free' pudding. Is this a true viable project, or an attempt to show that India has arrived on the global stage? It has been nearly a week since both the Railway and Union Budgets have been out – with the general verdict being that while not disruptive, both Budgets were the best that could be done under trying circumstances. Both Budgets, however, were also very cleverly branded. Two images came through amidst the haze of numbers and book-balancing. One was that of modernization – a country trying to show that its rail system had indeed arrived on the global stage. The other was that of gender and social development – a country trying to do damage-control after a rape incident that reminded the world that India had not yet joined the 21st century. There are, however, a few items from the Budgets that appear contradictory— which is perfectly natural when one considers that painting a veneer of modernizatio...