Promoting “indigenous development” of digital and social media platforms was one of the key “action” points that emerged from an interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government’s top bureaucrats earlier this week, The Indian Express has learnt.Sources told this newspaper that the directive was among “28 points” that resulted from the meeting held in Delhi on October 6 between the Prime Minister and Secretaries helming ministries and departments in the Central Government.Three days later, on October 9, Cabinet Secretary Dr T V Somanathan wrote to the Secretaries, asking them to “initiate action” on these points, it is learnt.According to sources, Somanathan told the top officials to promote an “ecosystem” for the indigenous development of digital and social media platforms — and train youth to develop such platforms and digital infrastructure “domestically”.The Cabinet Secretary is also learnt to have conveyed to the top officials that “reverse engineering” can be “one of the valuable tools” to promote technological development.The other key action points include a review of the Government’s communication strategies and an upgrade across sectors, from tourism to sports and higher education, to match global standards.The directive on digital and social media platforms is significant as the number of internet subscribers in India reached 969.1 million by the end of March 2025, with most of these subscribers using foreign platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and X.Story continues below this adThe Prime Minister’s push also coincides with the launch of Indian social media platforms like Arattai, a competitor of WhatsApp, which is gaining traction among users, even as security and privacy aspects remain a cause of concern. The messaging app has been developed by Zoho Corporation, which is based in Tamil Nadu.Last month, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X that he was switching to Zoho’s homegrown office suite software. Earlier this month, Home Minister Amit Shah also said he was switching his official email service to Zoho Mail.Yet, social media is a sphere where Indian companies are yet to have a major impact, with American tech giants dominating the space with a large user base, and access to better talent and resources, from engineering to lobbying. Services such as WhatsApp for messaging, YouTube and Instagram for video content, Gmail for email communication, and X for social and political commentary have users across India, in urban and rural areas.The directive also comes after ties with the US took a hit over the 50 per cent tariff that Washington imposed on products from New Delhi. Since the tariffs kicked in late August, Modi has, in several of his public speeches, urged people to use locally developed swadeshi products.Story continues below this adThere is also the context of the Government taking action on foreign and domestic apps citing various alleged infractions. At the height of its sour relationship with X (then Twitter) in 2021, several Government officials propped up the Indian app Koo as an alternative. Koo failed and shut down operations last year.Besides, after the border clashes with China in 2020, India had banned several popular apps such as TikTok, citing national security concerns.Following the Prime Minister’s interaction, sources said, all the Central ministries have been asked to establish an effective mechanism for communication to ensure real-time response to emerging issues or “breaking stories” on social and electronic media.Sources said the Secretaries were asked to review the communication strategy of their ministries and departments on a weekly basis. They were directed to actively involve officials of the Indian Information Service for effective dissemination of decisions taken by the Government, sources said.Story continues below this adThe Cabinet Secretary is also learnt to have directed officials to make “concerted efforts” to ensure that Indian universities, banks, chartered accountancy firms, sportspersons and tourist destinations are featured in top global rankings.The officials were told to reorient PhD programmes to promote innovation and development of new ideas, and technologies, through topics that fit the emerging needs of the country – and conceptualise awards at the international level to recognise excellence in various fields.Overall, the ministries have been asked to promote “Atmanirbharta” and reduce imports, and interact with domestic manufacturers to identify products that can be manufactured within the country.With Soumyarendra Barik