India is growing at nearly 7% annually, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26. Its demographic dividend, hundreds of millions of young people entering the workforce, is widely seen as the engine of future prosperity. But the survey has identified an unexpected obstacle to that future: the screens in everyone’s hands.For the first time, the Economic Survey 2025-26 places excessive digital consumption alongside obesity and non-communicable diseases as a structural threat to human-capital formation. Past surveys treated technology primarily as an economic accelerator. This one warns that the same devices powering India’s digital economy may be undermining the cognitive foundations needed to sustain it.The concern is not access, but behaviour. Unlike earlier policy debates focused on bringing smartphones to more people, the survey argues that digital platforms, engineered for instant gratification through short videos, endless scrolling, and algorithmic rewards, are eroding sustained attention, deep learning, and the capacity for delayed gratification.1337 people loved this storyMillions of Indian gig workers are stuck in low-pay jobs, Economic Survey findsBy positioning the issue in the education and health chapter rather than in technology or industry sections, policymakers signal that this is fundamentally about human capability. The document even invokes classical Indian philosophy, drawing a… Read MoreYourStory RSS Feed
