Digital India: A Step towards the Future
A project by Lakshya Bhanot, 12-A
Digital India: An Introduction
Digital India is a flagship project of the Indian government, which aims to transform India
into a “digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.”1
The Digital India project was launched on July 1st, 2015. Envisaged by the Department of
Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), this project envolves the coordination of
several government ministires, including the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, and
the Ministry of Health, among others.
In the global scenario, India has one advantage that a lot of developed countries like Japan
and Germany do not have, that of a largely youthful population. By harnessing the powers
of the Internet and other modern forms of technology, the hidden potential of the vast
population of youths in India can be unleashed, and India can emerge as one of the most
powerful nations globally.
Digital India is an ambitious programme which would help make e-governance more
accessible and comprehensive, spread digital literacy amongst Indian citizens, strengthen
the national digital infrastructure, and catapult India as a global leader.
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Vision of Digital India
1. Digital Infrastucture as a Core Utility to every
Citizen
A well administered-nation is also a well-connected one.
Owing to the large landmass of the nation and massive
disparities in the population densities of various places,
the most efficient way to connect the nation is digitally.
Once even the remotest village in India is connected
througn broadband and high speed internet, the delivery
of efficient e-governance, targeted social benefits, and
financial schemes, can become a reality for all Indian
citizens. This programme may also help reduce income
and through regional disparities.
This vision can be realised through the following:
a) Making high-speed DeitY internet as a core utility for
delivery of services to citizens available.
b) Providing a cradle to grave digital identity that is
unique, lifelong, online and authenticable to every
citizen. One of the key successes under this is the
digital Aadhaar card, a twelve-digit identification
number issued by the Unique Identification Authority
of India (UIDAI)
c) Fostering citizen participation in the digital and
financial spaces, mobile phone and banking. In order
to complete this goal, the has launched PayGov, a
centralised platform for facilitating all government
departments and services to collect payment from
citizens for public services, in collaboration with NSDL
Database Management Limited.
d) Providing easy Access to Common Service Centre
(CSC). Community Service Centres were launched
under the National e-Governance Plan by the DeitY.
CSCs are IT-powered kiosks set up in villages, which
facilitate the delivery of government, financial, social
and private sector services in the areas of agriculture,
health, education, entertainment, banking,
insurance, pension, utility payments, etc.
e) Providing easy and authentication-based access to a
digital locker, i.e., a shareable private space on a
public cloud, which can greatly facilitate paperless transactions. Citizens can digitally
store Government issued digital documents and certificates and share them with
various agencies without having to submit or send physical documents or copies.
f) Creating a safe and secure cyberspace.
2. Governance and Services on demand
In order to increase transparency, efficiency, and accessibility of the government,
various state governments and central ministries have made sustained efforts to usher
in an era of e-governance, beginning with the computerisation of government
departments. The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is one such initiative, that aims at
taking a holistic view of e-governance initiatives across the country, and integrating
them into a singular vision. The following elements are crucial for ensuring the
accessibility of on-demand governance and services to all citizens and stakeholders in
the country:
a) Seamlessly integrated services across departments: Access to some services often
require documents and approvals from outside the department. Digital means can
be used to provide single-window access to such services, thereby saving time and
resources for all parties involved. Initiatives like the MeghRaj Cloud Platform and
PayGov have been established to achieve this objective.
b) Services available in real time from online and mobile platforms: The focus today is
on designing e-Governance applications in such a way that the related information,
services and grievance-handling mechanism are accessible online on a real time
basis. The 2014 UN Public Service Award-winning Mobile Seva project of DeitY, is a
highly successful project that provides a common national platform to all
Government departments at the central, state and local levels for providing mobile
based services.
c) All citizen entitlements to be available and portable on the cloud: Government of
India has embarked upon an ambitious initiative – "GI Cloud" which has been named
as 'MeghRaj' The focus of this initiative is to accelerate delivery of e-services in the
country while optimizing ICT spending of the Government. The plan is to leverage
the cloud platform for addressing the portability issue towards ensuring continuity of
citizen entitlements across the entire country. Over 1900 government departments 2
and agencies across the country are using the mobile platform for mobile enabled
services.
d) Digitally transformed services for increasing ease of business: The ease of doing
business in a country depends on the ease of starting a business, purchasing
property, obtaining required permits, paying taxes, etc. Government services for
businesses shall be digitally transformed for improving ease of doing business in the
country.
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e) Making financial transactions electronic and cashless: Electronic payments have the
advantage of direct delivery to the intended beneficiaries without the involvement
of middlemen who may otherwise subvert the system. Similarly, online mechanisms
for payment of fees for certain public services offer a transparent, friendly and
expeditious channel to citizens for payments. All financial transactions above a
threshold shall be made electronic & cashless. The DeitY has launched PayGov for
this purpose.
f) Leveraging Geospatial Information System (GIS) for decision support systems and
development: The National Geospatial Information System (NGIS) has been
organised to integrate geo-spatial data from a number of governmental
organisations. This system can be used to benefit several e-governance initiatives,
and also monitoring the progress of projects, relief work, etc.
3. Digital Empowerment of Citizens
Sweeping across demographic and socio-economic disparities, digital empowerment
can act as a great leveller. Increasing numbers of Indians today have been connected
through the internet and mobile phones. Digital India promises to transform India
into a digitally empowered society by focusing on digital literacy, digital resources,
and collaborative digital platforms. This also places emphasis on universal digital
literacy and availability of digital resources in regional languages.
a) Universal Digital Literacy: The goals of Digital India can truly be realised only
when citizens are digitally literate. E-literacy helps citizens become self-sufficient,
find livelihood, and become economically secure. The goal is to make at least one
person in each family digitally literate, through core ICT infrastructure such as
CSCs. The Department of Telecom has also rolled out the Bharat Broadband
Network Limited (BBNL), to provide 100 Mbps links to be used as information
highways by all stakeholders, to ensure digital inclusion of all villages in the
country.
b) Universally Accessible Digital Resources: Under Digital India, the government
aims to provide easily available and navigable digital resources for everyone,
including citizens with disabilities.
c) All documents would be made available on cloud. Citizens would not be asked to
provide physical documents or certificates which are already available with a
government department, they would simply give them the details for online
access. Institutions such as schools will also be asked to make all official
documents digitally available. This would greatly simplify matters for all parties
involved.
d) Owing to India’s vast diversity of language and dialects, only a small population is
literate in English, and is thus able to access the Internet. In order to spread
digital literacy in every village in India, the government strives to make digital
resources multilingual. The DeitY has taken multiple steps like the Technology
Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) programme towards this objective.
e) Traditionally, digital platforms have been used for dissemination of information
and provision of services to the users. DeitY has recently launched a nationwide
digital platform named as "myGov" to facilitate collaborative and participative
governance. The platform would provide a mechanism to discuss various issues
to arrive at innovative solutions, make suggestions to the government, and
provide feedback on governance.
Pillars of Digital India
The Digital India programme is an umbrella programme of the Indian government, across
various ministries. The programme has to be implemented with mutual co-ordination and
cooperation among these departments and ministries with the help of the DeitY. The Digital
India Programme is structured on 9 pillars, which are:
a) Broadband Connectivity
This pillar mainly consists of three subcomponents:
i) Broadband for All-
Rural
- Aims to cover a total
of 2.5 lakh gram
panchayats by
August 20213, of
which 1 lakh were
already connected
in 2017.
-
This project would
be headed by the
Department of
Telecommunications (DoT), with an estimated budget of ₹ 72,778 crores.4
ii) Broadband for All-Urban,
-Virtual Network Operators would be leveraged for service delivery and
communication infrastructure in urban development.
iii) National Information Infrastructure
-It would integrate the networks like SWAN, NKN and NOFN along with cloud
enabled National and State Data Centres.
-Provisions would be made for horizontal connectivity to 100, 50, 20 and 5
government offices/ service outlets at state, district, block and panchayat
levels respectively.
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-DeitY will be the nodal department and the project cost is estimated to be
around ₹17,633 crores for implementation in 2 years and maintenance &
support for 5 years.5
b) Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity
-Aims to provide mobile coverage to close to 50,000 uncovered villages in India, starting
with villages in the Northeast.6
- The DoT is spearheading the project. The estimated budget was close to ₹16,000 crores in
FY 2014-20187
c) Public Internet Access Programme
- It is composed of two sub
components of: Common Service
Centres and Post Offices as multi-
service centres.
- Common Service Centres would be
strengthened and its numbers would
be increased from approximately
1,35,000 operational at present to
2,50,000 i.e., one CSC in each Gram
Panchayat. DeitY would be the nodal
department for its implementation. 8
- A total of 1,50,000 Post Offices9 are
proposed to be converted into multi
service centres for public services,
beneficiary schemes, etc. The
Department of Posts would be the
nodal department for its
implementation.
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d) e-Governance: Reforming Governance through Technology
-In order to make governance more accessible and efficient, Digital India plans to reform
governments at various levels through technology.
The following are some of the guiding principles to reform governance through IT:
- Form simplification and field reduction – Forms would be simplified and
more user-friendly. Only necessary information would be collected.
- Online applications and tracking – In order to save time and energy,
applications for documents/permits would be available online, and a tracking
feature would be provided as well.
- Integration of services and platforms – Integration of services and platforms
e.g., Aadhaar, payment gateway, and Mobile Seva platform would be
mandated to facilitate integrated delivery to citizens.
- Public Grievance Redressal - IT should be used to automate, respond and
analyse data to identify and resolve the public’s problems.
e) e-Kranti: Electronic delivery of services
- This project is an attempt by the government to improve the delivery of
public services and make them more accessible.
- The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was conceptualized to focus on e-
Governance initiatives at the national level with an aim to "Make all
Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through
common service delivery outlets, and ensure efficiency, transparency, and
reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise the basic needs of the
common man".
- As of 2011, the NeGP consisted of 31 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and 8
components, including Health and the Public Distribution System. However,
on analysis, several issues were found, mainly in terms of lack of proper dose
of Government Process Reengineering in Government Schemes. e-Kranti has
been designed to address the aforesaid challenges.
- There are now a total of 44 MMPs, which have been grouped as Central,
State, and Integrated.
Some of the aims under e-Kranti are:
- Technology for Education – e-Education
All Schools will be connected with broadband. Free Wi-Fi will be provided
in all secondary and higher secondary schools (coverage would be around
250,000 schools). A programme on digital literacy would be taken up at
the national level. MOOCs –Massive Online Open Courses shall be
developed and leveraged for e-Education.
- Technology for Health – e-Healthcare
E-Healthcare would cover online medical consultation, online medical
records, online medicine supply, pan-India exchange for patient
information. Pilots shall be undertaken in 2015 and full coverage would
be provided in 3 years.
- Technology for Farmers
This would facilitate farmers to get real time price information, online
ordering of inputs and online cash, loan and relief payment with mobile
banking.
f) Information for All
- Information must be available for everyone through electronic means or
network-based resources. Open Data Platforms have been introduced for
this purpose, which facilitate proactive release of datasets in an open format
by the ministries and departments. Online hosting of information and
documents will allow for easy access to information.
- Regular interactions of government with citizens are essential through social
media sites or web-based programmes, for good e-governance. This has
been achieved through platforms like [Link].
g) Electronics Manufacturing
-Focuses on promoting electronic manufacturing with the target of Net Zero imports by
2020. Coordinated Actions required for this goal include:
(i) Taxation, Incentives
(ii) Economies of scale, eliminating cost disadvantages
(iii) Focus areas – Big Ticket Items FABS, Fab-less design, Set top boxes, VSATs, Mobiles,
Consumer & Medical Electronics, Smart Energy meters, Smart cards, micro-ATMs
(iv) Incubators, Clusters
(v) National Award, Marketing, Brand Building
(vi) National Centres – Flexible Electronics, Security Forces
(vii) R & D in electronics
h) IT for Jobs
- Being home to one of the largest and youngest workforces in the world, this
pillar aims at providing training to Indian youth in the IT sector to enhance
their employability skills and improving their prospects in securing a good
job in today’s digitally changing environment
- There are eight components with specific scope of activities under this pillar:
(i) 1 crore students from smaller towns & villages will be trained for IT
sector jobs over 5 years
(ii) BPOs would be set up in every north-eastern state to facilitate ICT
enabled growth in these states.
(iii) 3 lakh service delivery agents would be trained as part of skill
development to run viable businesses delivering IT services
(iv) 5 lakh rural workforce would be trained by the Telecom Service
Providers (TSPs) to cater to their own needs.
i) Early Harvest Programmes
- The Early Harvest Programmes consist of those programmes which are to be
implemented in a short timeline.
- Projects under these Programmes include SMS based weather information,
disaster alerts, National Portal for Lost & Found children, Biometric
attendance, and Wi-Fi in all universities.
Impact of Digital India
a) Impact on Digital Infiltration
The Digital India programme has had a massive impact on the consumers of the
Internet and smartphones in India. In September 2018, India had 560 million 10
internet subscribers, which is almost half the Indian population, and is second only
to China. India also downloaded 12.3 billion apps in 2018, which was the second
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largest number in the world. Thanks to the mass financial inclusion scheme, the PM
Jan Dhan Yojana, 80% of Indian adults had at least one digital financial account. 11
According to the American managing consulting firm, McKinsey, an analysis of 17
mature and emerging economies on the basis of digital adoption revealed that India
is digitising its society and economy faster than any other country in the world
except for Indonesia.
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The rapid digitalisation of the country can largely be accredited to governmental
organisations. With the government constantly striving to ramp up its Aadhar campaign, it
has enrolled 1.2 billion people since its introduction in 2009, making it the largest digital ID
campaign in the world. This has also acted as a catalyst for digitalisation in other sectors. For
example, almost 870 million bank accounts were linked to Aadhar by February 2018, as
compared to 56 million in January 2014. Moreover, private players like Reliance Jio are
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encouraging internet subscriptions and digitalisation in some of the most remote areas of
the country, by offering almost-free smartphones with low-cost data plans. Since 2013, data
costs have almost gone down by 95%, while the speeds have increased manifold.
India’s rapid growth in the digitalisation sector is also helping reduce regional disparities in
the country. Lower-income states like Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have been digitalising
their societies at a faster rate compared to wealthier states. They have expanded their
digital infrastructure by constructing base tower stations and offering internet services to
new customers every day. Between 2014 and 2018, Uttar Pradesh was solely responsible for
adding 36 million internet subscribers to the national tally. Inevitably, digitalisation has also
led to globalisation, with MNCs like Amazon, Google, and Netflix venturing into the Indian
market. People with access to the Internet now enjoy a higher standard of living, and a high
degree of convenience due to the large mass of digital services available to them. In these
previously backward regions, people can now send money to family and friends, video call
their loved ones, and order food at just the touch of a button!
b) Social Impact
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1. Employment
- By deploying 1000 billion rupees in ongoing schemes, and a proposed 130
billion rupees for new projects, the Digital India initiative would create an
estimated 60-65 million jobs by 2025.13
- Through its Digital Training Programme and mission to propagate digital
literacy, millions of lives have been impacted. By building up essential skills
required for our largely digital future, the programme has increased the
employability of a large mass of Indian youth.
2. Quality of Service Delivery
- With projects such as e-Kranti, Digital India has rapidly improved the quality
of public services by expanding their reach and making them more effective.
The number of e-services has increased from 2463 in 2014 to 3858 in 2020,
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indicating greater popularity for the digitalisation of government services.
- Online repositories such as DigiLocker have also greatly eased the efficiency
and accessibility of public services, due to the elimination of the hassle of
carrying and preserving multiple physical documents. It has also helped
inter-department coordination within the government. Currently, DigiLocker
has issued close to 3.8 billion documents.15
3. Education
- In terms of education, Digital India can overcome entrenched challenges
such as inadequate infrastructure, regional disparities, low teacher-student
ratio, and a high dropout rate. The government has allocated a billion rupees
to build a virtual education infrastructure to address the quality and
accessibility of education. Virtual education platforms like Massive Open
Online Courses (MOOCs) are expected to improve student performance, and
literacy rates within the country.
4. Healthcare
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- Digital India also has the potential to address concerns that have plagued the
health sector for decades, such as low doctor-patient ratio, insufficient
infrastructure and lack of equal access to medical consultation and services.
The e-hospital programme, offered by several leading medical institutions,
has increased the delivery speed of healthcare by allowing patients to book
appointments, and even consult doctors online. Other initiatives like the
Social Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine (Sehat) will increase access to
healthcare by providing tele-consultation services through close to 60,000
CSCs throughout the country. 16
5. Financial Inclusion
- In the background of the demonetisation and the government’s emphasis
towards a cashless economy, Digital India would be paramount towards
achieving this goal. The India Post Payments Bank, launched in 2018, is
expected to impact 40%17 of people who were previously outside the formal
banking sector, by providing digital banking services through the Post Office.
- Mobile baking will also lead to an increase in the accessibility, efficiency, and
volume of financial transactions.
c) Impact on Business
It is highly likely that digitalisation and the move towards a cashless economy would
have a significant impact on how businesses are run in this country. The following
are some key areas which are likely to be impacted by Digital India:
- In India, the adoption of digital technology can lead to increased revenues up
to 27%, increase in employment up to 84% and increased access to foreign
and domestic markets as well. 18Digital infrastructure can also be used
effectively to curb business costs.
- In order to attract FDI and MNCs to India, the government has taken several
measures to improve the ease of doing business. Services such as Know Your
Customer (KYC), the e-Biz portal, and other e-governance issues has led to an
improvement in the global rankings for conducting business in our country.
- With a digital infrastructure, companies would be able to reach a larger
market, and provide a greater number of goods at lower costs.
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- The vision and inevitable benefits of Digital India have been expected to
boost investment and innovation in the digital sector. A number of domestic
and international companies have already announced investments in India’s
digital sector.
- Increased use of digital technology can also boost employee satisfaction and
productivity. In India, it is estimated that employees in SMBs with increased
digital interaction are 8.7 times19 more likely to be collaborative than those
with no, or minimal access to digital infrastructure.
Case Study 1: JAM Trinity
The Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity or the JAM trinity,
is a combination of the Aadhaar system, the PM Jan
Dhan Yojana, and the increased usage of mobile
phones in the country. The Indian government has
rolled out various ambitious welfare programmes
throughout history. However, due to leakages,
corruption, and inefficiency, a large amount of funds
allotted for subsidies and wellness programmes are
often eaten away. Hence, the JAM Trinity attempts one
of the biggest economic welfare reforms in history,
that of direct subsidy transfers. By relying on the
unique Aadhaar ID, the government has been able to
directly identify disadvantaged citizens, and with Jan
Dhan accounts and mobile phones enabling direct
transfer of welfare funds, the government can cut out all middlemen. In the
past six years, Rs 12,95,468 crores20 have been distributed to beneficiaries
through direct benefit transfer schemes. In the year 2020 alone, Rs. 2,10,244
crores21 were directly sent into the bank accounts of beneficiaries as part of
schemes like NREGA, PDS, PMAY, etc. According to estimates, more than the
JAM trinity has impacted more than 380 million beneficiaries by March
2020.22
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Case Study 2: Digital India Initiatives amid COVID-19
Since early 2020, the world has been in the throes of COVID-19, a deadly
pandemic. With the first Janata Curfew on 22nd March, 2020, it seems as if
India has been in a constant cycle of lockdowns, curfews, and other
restrictions. With such a large population, and what is seen as a corrupt and
inefficient executive by many, it seemed as if the distance between the
common Indian and the elite bureaucracy was ever growing.
However, Digital India has helped bridge the gap and fortify positive
interactions between the citizens and governmental organisations. There
have been several efforts by regional government bodies to allow a public
redressal system. For example, in October 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir
government launched ‘LG Mulaqat’, an innovative public grievance redressal
programme. This programme, which is held every month, relies on video-
conferencing and an online grievance registration platform. It is attended by
the entire UT administration, including the Lieutenant Governor, senior
officers, and district-level functionaries. This unique programme gives an
opportunity to citizens from all districts to directly air their pending
grievances to the LG, from their own homes. This has created a sense of
accountability, and has fostered the vibrant spirit of democracy in the
country.
In the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, the Superintendent of Police also started a
grievance redressal programme by holding weekly video conferences with all eighty police
stations in the district. Similar programmes have been undertaken by officers in the Sheohar
district of Bihar, and Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.
While these efforts by district-level officers have been commendable, the central
government has also adopted various measures in the nation’s battle against COVID-19. One
of the flagship programmes of the government has been the Aarogya Setu app. Aarogya
Setu is a contact-tracing app, developed by the Ministry of Health under the e-governance
initiative, to track and sensitise citizens in the battle against the virus. The application uses
Bluetooth and GPS-tracking to inform a user when they are near a COVID-positive individual.
By providing early identification, the app helps keep an individual’s family and friends safe,
and also guides them towards suitable medical support. This app also helps the government
identify COVID hotspots, them to take required measures to curb the virus from spreading.
Other initiatives include the DIKSHA platform which offers online training to frontline
workers, and SWAYAM, an initiative for live broadcasts of the lessons for central
government-run Kendriya Vidyalaya schools via Skype.
Challenges to Digital India
There are several challenges which have hampered the successful implementation of the
programme to the fullest extent. Some of these challenges include:
1. Digital Illiteracy
Alarmingly high rates of digital illiteracy are one of the biggest challenges to
the Digital India movement today. As recently as 2016, digital illiteracy in
India was a whopping 90%23. The non-availability of online services in regional
languages is also one of the major deterrents to widespread internet usage in
the country.
2. Rural Accessibility
Large-scale internet penetration in the country would only be possible when
there is rural connectivity. Over 25,000 villages in India remain deprived of an
Internet connection today24, as offering network services in such areas may
not be economically viable for certain companies. Moreover, despite the
installation of the NOFN in a large number of panchayats, 67% of them have
been found to be non-functional.25
3. Ignorance of the Public
A large section of the public is set in its ways to conduct their business
through traditional ways, which they find more convenient. They are
unaware of the benefits Digital India schemes, and do not trust digital
services either.
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4. Cyber Crime
The government hasn’t done enough to fortify cyber security measures or
allay the fear of the people regarding cyber-crime. Recent incidents like the
2016 data breach26, wherein the debit card information of 3.2 million
subscribers was stolen, and the lack of clarity regarding Aarogya Setu’s
origins and safety have further turned people away from using digital means
for sensitive transactions.
5. Delay in Infrastructural Development
Another gargantuan challenge faced by Digital India is the grindingly slow
development of infrastructure. The deadlines of several projects, like NOFN
which was supposed to be completed by 2013, have constantly been
extended, and still haven’t been completed. Also, in order to reach global Wi-
Fi penetration levels, India needs 8 million additional hotspots, of which only
3 lakhs27 have been built.
6. High Costs
In a country where about 60% of the population lives below the poverty line 28
and can barely afford one square meal, the purchase of mobile phones and
electronics seems like a wild fantasy. Hence, a large chunk of the population
lacks the tools to benefit off of the Digital India programme.
7. Lack of Training and Skill
The successful implementation of Digital India will require mass training. A
sufficient number of personnel will have to be proficient enough in order to
run the program smoothly.
8. Policy Framework
Policy-based challenges such as taxation, right of way, bureaucratic hurdles,
etc., have proven to be roadblocks for the involvement of private companies
in realising the vision of Digital India.
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Recommendations for Digital India
1. Improve Digital Literacy
The government must use a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach to educate
certain qualified individuals, who can then promulgate digital literacy at
the grassroots level.
2. Provision of User-Friendly Applications
One of the major challenges faced by Digital India is the lack of, or
overcomplicated applications for public services. The government must
use user-friendly, simplified, and visually attractive applications to
encourage their usage. The government must provide incentives to
entrepreneurs, technology enthusiasts, and students to come up with
such apps.
3. Fortifying Cyber Security
The government must set up suitable surveillance and security
mechanisms to safeguard and monitor the Indian cyberspace against
hackers, data theft, etc. There should be stringent and well-defined
policies against offenders.
4. Encouraging Private Involvement
Higher involvement from the private sector is required to develop digital
infrastructure. The government must provide incentives and benefits to
the private sector to encourage their active involvement in strengthening
the country digitally.
5. Integrating Curriculum and Digital India
The curriculum in academic institutions should be revised to include skills
important to flourish in a digital world. Schools should also deploy new
forms of technology, to encourage higher rates of digital literacy and
adoption among the children.
6. Partnerships with Technology Giants
In order to ensure that the Indian digital infrastructure is updated, the
government should forge lasting relationships with global technological
leaders.
7. Rural Infrastructure Development
Existing government infrastructure such as post offices and CSCs must be
further leveraged to provide digital services. The government should
effectively use its reserve of funds to incentivise private players into
developing rural infrastructure.
8. Promote Inter-Department Coordination
The Indian government is composed of governments and departments
functioning at various levels, from the central government to the gram
panchayats. This large network may cause hindrances in implementation
or delivery of digital services. Hence, a supervisory position must be
created to ensure digital coordination and interoperability amongst
various administrative divisions.
Conclusion
Digital India is an ambitious programme of the Indian government. Its
vision of transforming India into a digitally empowered and knowledge
economy is truly admirable. On the basis of its vision of developing digital
infrastructure, digitally empowering, and offering e-governance to its
citizens, this programme seeks to usher in an era of efficiency and
approachability. With various offerings like MyGov and e-Kranti, Digital
India has bridged the gap between the administration and the people,
and has strengthened the democratic ideal of accountability. During the
pandemic, Digital India has stood the test of time, helping people remain
connected with each other and their governments, and has allowed the
government to carry out its proceedings without much interruption. In
the future, it is highly likely to bring in several benefits in terms of GDP
growth, employment opportunities, national integration, etc. However, it
is important to place an emphasis on inclusive growth. While the
government has carried out several initiatives to develop rural digital
infrastructure, there efforts have proven to be insufficient. The
implementation of schemes like the PMJDY has also been lacklustre, with
a lot of people not receiving benefits they are entitled to. It is important
that the private and public sectors coordinate with each other, along with
the privileged sections of the society, to bring in reforms which will realise
the full potential of Digital India and usher in a period of inclusive growth
and empowerment.
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