09 April 2025 : Indian Express Editorial Analysis

 1. Unlocking medical data’s value

(Source – Indian Express, Section – The Ideas Page – Page No. – 11)

India’s Data Potential: A Rising Digital Powerhouse

• India’s population, now over 1.4 billion, surpasses that of all 38 OECD countries combined.
• This demographic edge, when combined with India’s rapid technological advancement, positions the country to generate a colossal amount of valuable data.
• Adjusted for purchasing power parity, the economic value of data generated by Indian citizens may soon rival that produced in developed nations.
• Recognizing and enabling this potential should be central to the nation’s data governance strategy.
• Data has become an invaluable economic asset globally, and India has a unique opportunity to convert its demographic and digital strengths into meaningful economic dividends.

The Policy Disconnect: Identity vs. Property

• Despite commendable efforts in the field of digital governance, there is a critical conceptual gap in India’s data policy framework.
• Policymakers are struggling to distinguish between data as a marker of personal identity and data as a monetizable asset or property.
• This conflation restricts progress in sectors that could significantly benefit from large-scale data utilization, especially healthcare.
• Without addressing this foundational misunderstanding, policy efforts risk being ineffective or even counterproductive, stalling innovation and value creation.

The Healthcare Conundrum: Fragmentation and Missed Opportunities

• Healthcare is perhaps the most striking example of data underutilization in India.
• While elite private hospitals have their own digital systems and government hospitals have adopted basic digital tools under the National Health Mission, the vast majority of healthcare interactions take place in small private clinics.
• These clinics lack both the incentive and infrastructure to digitize records. As a result, patients are often left without an interoperable digital medical history — a critical resource for consistent, quality care.

The Ripple Effects of Incomplete Data

• This data fragmentation has several downstream consequences. Health insurers struggle to accurately price policies without sufficient data.
• Researchers cannot conduct large-scale studies to discover new treatments. AI developers lack access to high-quality datasets needed to build advanced diagnostic tools.
• Thus, the absence of a robust digital healthcare data ecosystem limits innovation, hinders cost efficiency, and restricts the development of personalized care models in India.

The Promise and Pitfalls of ABDM

• The government has recognized this challenge through initiatives like the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which aims to create a seamless health data exchange system.
• At its core are principles that position citizens as the owners of their health data and enable them to access and share these records across healthcare providers.
• Despite this thoughtful framework, ABDM’s progress has been sluggish. A major reason is that neither doctors nor patients, during medical interactions, are incentivized to value or preserve the data generated.
• Until the value of health data becomes apparent to citizens themselves, the broader ecosystem is unlikely to engage with ABDM in a meaningful way.

Unlocking Value Through Citizen Participation

• The key to success lies in making health data valuable to individuals. If patients see clear benefits such as better diagnosis, lower insurance premiums, or easier medical consultations they will begin to favor establishments that comply with data interoperability standards.
• This consumer-driven shift could trigger a cascade of improvements, with healthcare providers adopting better data systems and new intermediaries emerging to facilitate data exchange.
• Over time, a thriving digital health marketplace could develop, benefiting all stakeholders.

The Western Model: Ill-Fitting for Indian Realities

• India’s hesitation to fully embrace data sharing stems in part from an overreliance on Western paradigms of data governance.
• In the US, HIPAA restricts patient agency in data monetization, allowing institutions to profit from anonymized data while excluding patients from the value chain.
• The UK takes a more statist approach, with health records largely owned and managed by the NHS.
• Neither model suits India’s predominantly private and decentralized healthcare system.
• What India needs instead is a citizen-centric approach, where individuals have true control over their personal data and can choose how it is used or shared.

Balancing Freedom with Safeguards

• Empowering citizens to treat data as property does not mean abandoning privacy or security.
• Powerful tools exist to anonymize personal data and can be provided as digital public goods to ensure safe participation in data markets.
• Likewise, digital forensics can help regulate these markets by minimizing information asymmetry and misuse.
• With the right regulatory framework and technical infrastructure, India can foster a secure, citizen-first digital economy that treats data not merely as a byproduct of identity but as a source of economic empowerment.

Conclusion:

• India stands at a crossroads. By shedding outdated notions that prioritize abstract privacy over tangible rights, and by adopting a governance model tailored to its unique context, India can unlock the immense value of its data economy.
• The path forward lies in recognizing data as a personal asset — one that individuals can control, use, and benefit from.
• Such a shift will not only democratize access to economic value but also pave the way for transformative innovation across sectors, especially healthcare.

2. Catch them young

(Source – Indian Express, Section – The Ideas Page – Page No. – 11)

 Unearthing Latent Talent in Indian Children

• Every child carries within them a spark of talent  sometimes visible, often hidden  that, if nurtured early, can help them achieve greatness.
• In India, while academic talents are more readily recognized, the same attention is rarely afforded to sporting abilities.
• Young children who display an affinity for physical activities such as running, jumping, or playing a sport are often seen as distracted from “real priorities.”
• This mindset contributes to the underachievement of India in global sports competitions, despite its massive population and growing interest in athletic performance.

A Glaring Gap Between Potential and Performance

• India’s poor medal tallies in events like the Olympics underscore the disconnect between its demographic advantage and its sporting outcomes.
• While athletes like P V Sindhu and Neeraj Chopra have reached global acclaim, they are exceptions, not the rule.
• The broader ecosystem remains fragmented held back by societal biases, inadequate infrastructure, and the lack of integration between sports and education.
• This structural weakness means that even though competitiveness is rising, it is not translating into consistent international success.

Beyond Medals: The Broader Impact of Sports

• While winning medals is a visible marker of progress, the deeper, more enduring benefit of sports lies in its impact on mental and physical wellbeing.
• A fit and active population has far-reaching advantages for a nation’s health and productivity.
• Encouraging foundational exposure to diverse sports from a young age can nurture not just champions, but healthier, more resilient communities.
• Sports should thus be seen not just as a competitive pursuit, but as a national investment in wellness.

Economic Realities and Societal Perceptions

• In India, where economic insecurity is widespread, sports are often viewed as a risky pursuit rather than a viable career path.
• For many families, education is the only perceived ladder to success. Consequently, children with athletic aspirations are forced to choose between following their dreams and securing a stable future.
• Without safety nets or alternative career pathways, this either-or dynamic stifles sporting ambition in its infancy.
• As Czech runner Emil Zátopek once said, athletes must run with hope, not money — but for hope to be sustainable, systemic support is essential.

Need for a New Educational-Sporting Ecosystem

• A transformative shift is needed one that treats sports not as an extracurricular afterthought but as a legitimate, core component of education.
• The article envisions a network of residential sports schools that integrate academics and athletics.
• These institutions would focus on a dual-track system, starting from middle school, offering foundational multi-sport exposure followed by specialisation based on scientific assessments.
• This would help avoid early burnout while building both sporting and academic capabilities.

Building Infrastructure and Tailoring Regional Strengths

• These schools would be equipped with top-tier facilities from Olympic-standard tracks to sports science labs.
• Curricula would blend sports with academic learning, aligning with NEP 2020 reforms.
• Region-specific strengths would be leveraged: wrestling in Haryana, football in the Northeast, and so on.
• Admissions would combine aptitude tests with scouting camps, ensuring that even underprivileged or rural talent is not overlooked.
• With mentoring, mental health support, and career planning, these institutions would offer holistic development.

Challenges to Realising the Vision

• Implementing this model isn’t without hurdles. Convincing conservative communities to send children to sports-focused schools would require sustained awareness campaigns.
• Funding would require robust public-private partnerships, and coordination across various ministries and sports bodies would be crucial.
• However, states like Uttar Pradesh and Telangana are already exploring sports universities, providing a possible link for these schools to feed into higher-level sports education and training.

Towards a New Sporting Culture in India

• This proposed model promises more than medals it could redefine how India perceives sports.
• By normalizing the idea that athletic pursuit is a valid life path, and by offering alternate careers for those who don’t “make it” professionally, it removes the fear of failure.
• It gives every child a fair chance to chase their dream, while also strengthening the fabric of the nation through fitness, discipline, and ambition.

Conclusion: A Race Worth Running

• India stands on the cusp of a sporting revolution but it requires the will to invest in infrastructure, mindsets, and systems that truly support young athletes.
• Creating a future where sports are seen not as a gamble, but a gateway to holistic growth, can unleash untapped national potential.
• Whether or not every child wins gold, the journey itself would be a victory and one that’s well worth the run.

Read more – 08 April 2025 : Indian Express Editorial Analysis