The key to expanding internet access in India is the use of Indian languages

According to a joint analysis by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar, the main causes of a gap in internet penetration in rural India have emerged as difficulty in understanding online protocols, lack of awareness of its benefits, and lack of interest. English proficiency is quite low in rural India. While there is Hindi content, the majority of the internet is in English.

“The proficiency of English in rural India is very low. While we have content in Hindi, the internet is English-heavy. That barrier needs to be broken by offering more of Indic or vernacular languages on the internet, or even pushing for more voice-based commands,” said Arnab Dutta, Group Account Director, B2B and Technology, Specialist Businesses, Insights, South Asia at Kantar, a marketing data and analytics company.

The report also shows that in the recent past, the use of the internet in Indian languages is increasing. It shows that 57 per cent of internet users prefer to access the internet in Indian languages, with Hindi topping the chart.

A closer look at what is being consumed in the Indian language shows the need to address the issue of content in regional languages. Among the top activities on the internet using Indian languages are watching videos, followed by listening to music, communication, social networking, online shopping and finally online searching.

One of the most important tools that has led to the increased use of Indian languages is voice search. The issue though is that most of the time the results of voice searches on the internet end with a video rather than a website or an Indian language text search.

Experts opine that one of the barriers to accessing an Indian language is that even today for any regional content, the uniform resource locator (URL) of the website will be in English. This despite the fact that ICANN has made it possible for using URL in over 10 Indian languages.

Bhashini operates as an AI-driven language translation system, breaking down language barriers and enabling conversations between speakers of different Indian languages. The platform is accessible through dedicated Android and iOS apps.