Digital India

INTRODUCTION-
Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in
order to ensure the Government's services are made available to
citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by
increasing Internet connectivity or making the country digitally
empowered in the field of technology. The initiative includes plans to
connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks.It consists of three
core components: the development of secure and stable digital
infrastructure, delivering government services digitally, and
universal digital literacy.
Launched on 1 July 2015, by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is
both enabler and beneficiary of other key Government of India schemes,
such as BharatNet, Make in India, Startup India and Standup
India, industrial corridors, Bharatmala, Sagarmala
As of 31 December 2018, India had a population of 130 crore people
(1.3 billion), 123 crore (1.23 billion) Aadhaar digital biometric identity
cards, 121 crore (1.21 billion) mobile phones, 44.6 crore (446 million)
smartphones, 56 crore (560 million) internet users up from 481 million
people (35% of the country's total population) in December 2017, and 51
per cent growth in e-commerce.

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HISTORY-
India has been a constant mess when we consider its governance. Ways
and methods used for governance have not advanced with time and act
as dead weight on the march to progress. Corruption and unreliability
are crippling governance on a daily basis. A clear need for governance
was seen, which could be reliable, transparent and upgraded as per
modern technology. An E-governance plan was initiated in 2006 by the
UPA government, trying to connect government services to the public via
telecom services. This did not meet expectations, and was soon let go of.
Carrying the idea, if not the implementation, onwards, PM
Narendra Modi launched the Digital India programme in September
2015. He is
trying to regain people’s confidence in reliable governance, and the
progress
in this direction till now cannot go unseen.
The major objective of Digital India is to equip rural areas of
the country with paramount digital infrastructure, digital delivery of
services,
and digital literacy. The responsibility of handling the working of the
project has been delegated to the Digital India Advisory group, chaired
by
the Ministry of Communications and IT. Services relevant to
Healthcare, Education and Judicial services are all subsets of the
assignment.
Additional support was acquired by the campaign after the
Prime Minister’s recent visit to Silicon Valley. “We must ensure that
technology is accessible, affordable, and adds value.” he said at a
conference.
Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Facebook’s Mark
Zuckerberg were few amongst those big names who emphasized on the
scheme’s
importance.
After plans like ‘Make In India’ and ‘Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan’, the ‘Digital India’ initiative is another prioritized project
administered by the Modi government and has also been recognized,
globally. Its
goal to digitally connect the nation’s population is unquestionably
appealing
and definitely qualifies as another step forward towards a developed
India.
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TYPES OF PROJECTS-

1. Digi Locker
The service was launched as an important facility to store crucial
documents like Voter ID Card, Pan Card, BPL Card, Driving License,
education certificates, etc. in the cloud.

2. MyGov.in

The portal works as an online platform to engage citizens in governance

through a “Discuss”, “Do” and “Disseminate” approach.

3. eSign Framework
This initiative would enable users to digitally sign a document online
using Aadhaar authentication.

4. Swach Bharat Mission mobile app

The app will enable organizations and citizens to access

information regarding the cleanliness drive and achieve the
goals of the mission.

5. National Scholarship Portal

This initiative aims at making the scholarship process easy. From
submitting the application, verification, sanction and disbursal to end
beneficiary, everything related to government scholarships can be done
on this single portal online.

6. eHospital
Online Registration System under this initiative enables people to avail
services like online registration, payment of fees and appointment,
online diagnostic reports, checking on the availability of blood online,
etc.

7. Digitize India Platform

This initiative will involve digitization of data and records on a large scale
in the country to make easy and quick access to them possible.

8. Bharat Net
Under this initiative, a high-speed digital highway will connect all
250,000 gram panchayats of the country. This is the world’s largest rural
broadband project using optical fibre.

9. Wi-fi Hotspots
Development of high speed BSNL wi-fi hotspots throughout the country is yet
another initiative to improve digital connectivity in the country.

10. Next Generation Network

Launched by BSNL, this service will replace 30-year old telephone
exchanges to manage all types of services like voice, data, multimedia
and other types of communication services.

11. Electronics Development Fund

The fund will be set up to support the manufacturing of electronics products that would help create
new jobs and reduce import. The funds will promote innovation, research and product development to
create a resource pool within the country.

12. Centre of Excellence on Internet of Things (IoT)

 In partnership with NASSCOM, DeitY and ERNET in Bangalore, Centre
of Excellence will enable rapid adoption of IoT technology and
encourage a new growth strategy. IoT will help the citizens in services
like transport system, parking, electricity, waste management, water
management and women’s safety to create smart cities, smart health
services, smart manufacturing and smart agriculture, etc.

KEY OBJECTIVES-
The objective of the Digital India Mission
The main objective of the Digital India Mission is ‘Power to Empower.
The three core components of Digital India Initiatives are digital delivery
of services, digital infrastructure creation, and digital literacy. Read here
about the objectives in detail:
 Offering high-speed internet in all gram panchayats
 Easy accessing to Common Service Centre in all the locality
 The digital India initiative is the combination of ideas and thoughts into
a single, comprehensive vision so that each of them is seen as part of
a larger goal.
The Digital India Programme also focuses on restructuring many existing
schemes that can be implemented in a synchronized manner.
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BENEFITS-
Benefits of Digital India Mission scheme
 The Digital India Scheme made it possible to link 12000 post offices of
rural areas electronically.
 This scheme increases the electronic transactions concerned with e-
governance.
 In almost 1.15 Lakh Gram Panchayats, an optical fiber network of Rs 2,
74,246 Km has been connected under Bharat Net Programme.
 A Common Service Center has been operative under the National e-
governance project of the Indian government that provides access to
information and communication technology. Through computer and
Internet access, the CSCs are creating multimedia content on various
matters like e-governance, health, education, entertainment,
telemedicine, and other government and private services.
 The digital village area was created with well-equipped facilities like
solar lighting, LED assembly unit, sanitary napkin production unit, and
Wi-Fi couple.
 Internet data is a major tool for making the delivery of services and the
urban internet penetration. It has reached 64% almost.
 Presently, the number of daily active internet users has crossed 300
million from 10-15 million daily users.
 .

CHALLENGES-
Challenges of Digital India scheme
 The daily basis Internet speed and Wi-Fi hotspots speed are slow as
compared to the developed countries.
 The small and medium scCale industries are struggling a lot in
adapting new modern technology.
 Limited capability of entry-level smartphones for smooth internet
access.
 Lack of skilled manpower in the field of digital technology.
 To look for about one million cybersecurity experts to check and
monitor the growing menace of digital crime.

9 PILLARS-
There are major nine pillars of Digital India that are mentioned in
the table below:

Broadband highways Universal access to mobile Public internet access

connectivity program
e-governance e-Kranti Information for all
Electronic IT for jobs Early harvest
manufacturing programmes
ADVANTAGES-
Removal of Black Economy
All the online transaction can be monitored easily and every payment made by any
customer to any merchant will be recorded, this way there won’t be any illegal
transactions and it’ll be impossible for people to hide their money. By restricting the
cash-based transactions and using only digital payments, the government can efficiently
expel the black economy.

Increase in Revenues
Another big advantage of digital India is that as the transactions get digitized, monitoring
the sales and taxes becomes much more convenient, as the transactions are recorded,
customers will now get a bill for every purchase that they make and merchants can now
no longer escape from paying tax to the government, this results in increases of revenue
of the government – thus resulting in growth of the overall financial status of the country.

Empowerment to the people

One of the biggest advantages of Digital India is that it gives an empowerment to the
citizens. When the payments move digital, each and every individual is bound to have a
bank account, a mobile phone, etc. This way, the government can easily transfer the
subsidies directly to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of people. In short, people no longer
have to wait to receive the incentives and subsidies that they are bound to receive from
the government. This feature is already in place in most cities. One example of this
feature is LPG subsidy that government gives to the common people. This subsidy
payment is now done via bank transfers these days.

Paves the way to e-governance

E-governance is a huge plus point for all the citizens, it is quicker, faster and safer when
compared to traditional governance, with the help of e-governance, you can now get
anything from birth certificate to death certificate immediately, this is convenient for
people to access the information they need on the go.

Creation of new jobs

With the initiative of Digital India, there have been numerous ways to enhance job
opportunities in new markets as well as increasing employment opportunities in existing
markets, new markets have started hiring people, thus increasing the employment rate.
 Other Advantages Include

 Creation of Digital Infrastructure and Electronic Manufacturing in

Native India.
 Digital Empowerment of Native Indian People.
 Delivery of all Government Services electronically (E-
Governance).
 A Digital Identification which will verify the end user.
 A Mobile for worldwide access to all services.
 A Bank account for Immediate Benefit Transfers of subsidies and
payments.
 The program also aims to eliminate all electronics imports from
foreign countries by 2020 and make India electronics
manufacturing super power.

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DISADVANTAGES-
 Many poor people do not have bank accounts. Although the Jan
Dhan Scheme launched by the government succeeded in
bringing millions into the banking system, the process is not
complete and many of the accounts are non-functional. The
government has to rectify this problem and bring the entire poor
and marginalized section into the banking system.
  The small retailers in India deal only in cash and have not been
able to invest in the digital infrastructure.
 The taxes, surcharges and the fees charged on digital
transactions need to be made liberal in order to encourage the
people to adopt the practice. Otherwise the public would not be
willing to move towards a cashless society.
 Hacking and cyber theft are grave dangers that plague the digital
world. Hackers can steal information and money from anywhere
in the world. The challenge before the government is to put
strong security systems in place to protect the online
transactions from the hackers. Researchers have shown that it is
easy to crack the PIN number and gain access to the virtual
wallet by using a software, if the cyber criminal gets possession
of the victim’s phone.
 The Indian public is not much educated with regards to the
benefits of using cards or online payment methods. A vast
majority prefer using cash as a convenient method of payment.
Even the card holders consider cash to be a quick method and
easy method.
 Lack of focus due to overwhelming information
 Decision paralysis as you have a lot to decide from. You have
to be really strong filter when it comes to what actually not to
do.
 Family time is limited due to easy access and addiction to
information.
 Barrier to illiterate people. They find it really difficult and some
time they are curious. This will go away with time i hope. But till
then it's also a side effect.. A digital divide may be created.
 Instant gratification had increased anxiety, performance issue
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IMPACT-
A. Economic impact:
reach out to the citizens due to obstructions and limitations such as
middleman According to analysts, the Digital India plan could boost GDP
up to $1 trillion by 2025. It can play a key role in macro economic factors
such as GDP growth, employment generation, labor productivity, growth
in a number of businesses and revenue leakages for the Government. As
per the World Bank report, a 10% increase in mobile and broadband
 penetration increases the per capita GDP by 0.81% and 1.38%
respectively in the developing countries. India is the 2nd largest telecom
market in the world with 915 million wireless subscribers and world’s
3rd largest Internet market with almost 259 million broadband users.
There is still a huge economic opportunity in India as the teledensity in
rural India is only 45% where more than 65% of the population lives.
Future growth of telecommunication industry in terms of a number of
subscribers is expected to come from rural areas as urban areas are
saturated with a tele-density of more than 160%.
B. Social impact:
Social sectors such as education, healthcare, and banking are unable to,
illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, lack of funds, information and
investments. These challenges have led to an imbalanced growth in the
rural and urban areas with marked differences in the economic and
social status of the people in these areas. Modern ICT makes it easier for
people to obtain access to services and resources. The penetration of
mobile devices may be highly useful as a complementary channel to
public service delivery apart from the creation of entirely new services
which may have an enormous impact on the quality of life of the users
and lead to social modernization. The poor literacy rate in India is due to
unavailability of physical infrastructure in rural and remote areas. This is
where m-Education services can play an important role by reaching
remote masses. According to estimates, the digital literacy in India is just
6.5% and the internet penetration is 20.83 out of 100 populations. The
Digital India project will be helpful in providing real-time education and
partly address the challenge of lack of teachers in the education system
through smart and virtual classrooms. Education to farmers, fisher men
can be provided through mobile devices. The high speed network can
provide the adequate infrastructure for online education platforms like
massive open online courses (MOOCs). Mobile and internet banking can
improve the financial inclusion in the country and can create a win-win
situation for all parties in the value-chain by creating an interoperable
ecosystem and revenue sharing business models. Telecom operators get
additional revenue streams while the banks can reach new customer
groups incurring lowest possible costs. Factors such as a burgeoning
population, poor doctor-patient ratio (1:870), high infant mortality rate,
increasing life expectancy, fewer quality physicians and a majority of the
population living in remote villages, support and justify the need for
tele-medicine in the country. M-health can promote innovation and
enhance the reach of healthcare services. Digital platforms can help
 farmers in know-how (crop choice, seed variety), context (weather, plant
protection, cultivation best practices) and market information (market
prices, market demand, logistics).
C. Environmental impact:
The major changes in the technology space will not only brought
changes to the economic system but will also contribute to the
environmental changes. The next generation technologies will help in
lowering the carbon footprint by reducing fuel consumption, waste
management, greener workplaces and thus leading to a greener
ecosystem. The ICT sector helps in efficient management and usage of
scarce and non-renewable resources. Cloud computing technology
minimizes carbon emissions by improving mobility and flexibility. The
energy consumption can be decreased from 201.8 terawatt hour (TWh)
in 2010 to 139.8 TWh in 2020 by higher adoption of cloud data centers
causing a 28% reduction in carbon footprint from 2010 levels
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CHALLENGES
Challenges For Digital India Few of the challenges faced in the successful
implementation of Digital India Programme are[6], [8].
1. Lack of education–Majority of population in the country is still
not qualified enough to use digital devices and technology. Most of
people are not capable of using a simple mobile phone.
2. Lack of infrastructure and required technology–The
Digital India campaign needs high quality infrastructure to be
implemented efficiently. India still lacks the basic infrastructure required
to move digitally ahead. The technological infrastructure and technology
required for the campaign is still not available that easily in the country.
The conditions are even more inadequate in the rural areas. Further, the
servers are overloaded due to pressure work.
3. Financial and technical issues –India is still a developing
country. For a plan like this, huge financial resources are required and
the country somehow lacks in that area. It requires financial assistance
from other sources. Technical issues like appropriate bandwidth,
firewalls, filters, anti-virus software’s, protection from hackers, buffering
are some of the technical issues the country has to face.
4. Attitude of citizens as well as government personnel
–For successful implementation of the programme, a wholesome effort
is required of both the citizens and the government personnel. But the
devil may care attitude is the hindrance in the path. Moreover, the older
 generation is set in their ways and find the traditional methods of doing
things easy and convenient. Indian political power structure and lack of
inter-departmental coordination add to the problem.
5. Cyber-crimes and Lack of confidence–Cyber safety is still
not given as much importance as it should be given. People find it risky
to make transactions online due to safety issues. Cyber laws are not paid
that much heed too. Also, most of people still have lack of confidence on
machines and prefer hand done things. Inept cyber services are also one
of the reasons for this.
6. High costs –The electronic devices and internet services are still by
and large very costly for an average Indian citizen. When a lot of people
don’t have enough money for the basic life’s necessities, spending on
electronic devices get out of the picture.
7. Training needs –The personnel who are working on this
campaign, to transform various government departments from man
managed to machine managed, require proper training to do that
effectively and efficiently. It’s a tedious task to train so many people of
different calibers and interest into one common discipline. Most of the
population lack the basic technical qualification required for the job
.

Approach and Methodology for Digital India

programme are:
o Ministries / Departments / States would fully leverage the Common and
Support ICT Infrastructure established by GoI. DeitY would also evolve/
lay down standards and policy guidelines, provide technical and
handholding support, undertake capacity building and R&D etc.
o The existing/ ongoing e-governance initiatives would be suitably
revamped to align them with the principles of Digital India. Scope
enhancement, Process Reengineering, use of integrated &
interoperable systems and deployment of emerging technologies like
cloud & mobile would be undertaken to enhance the delivery of
Government services to citizens.
o States would be given flexibility to identify for inclusion additional state-
specific projects, which are relevant for their socio-economic needs.
o e-Governance would be promoted through a centralised initiative to the
extent necessary, to ensure citizen-centric service orientation,
interoperability of various e-Governance applications and optimal
 utilisation of ICT infrastructure/ resources, while adopting a
decentralised implementation model.
o Successes would be identified and their replication promoted
proactively with the required productisation and customisation wherever
needed.
o Public Private Partnerships would be preferred wherever feasible to
implement e-governance projects with adequate management and
strategic control.
o Adoption of Unique ID would be promoted to facilitate identification,
authentication and delivery of benefits.
o Restructuring of NIC would be undertaken to strengthen the IT support
to all government departments at the Centre and the State levels.
o The positions of Chief Information Officers (CIO) would be created in at
least 10 key Ministries so that various e-governance projects could be
designed, developed and implement
o

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COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS

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Emphasizing on transparency and an efficient interface between the

government and citizens of India, the United Progressive Alliance
launched the National e-Governance Plan in 2006. As it benefited only
18% of the middle class population, the National Democratic Alliance
reinvigorated the same by addressing the major lacunae of digital
empowerment and knowledge based economy under the umbrella
program of “Digital India”. The government has tried digitizing almost all
the sectors of the economy. Increased internet accessibility, mobile
connectivity and banking facilities were brought under the ‘Digital
Infrastructure’, transforming services and making them available online
on a single window under ‘Governance and e-Services on Demand’.
Participative governance was encouraged by universalizing digital
literacy under ‘Digital Empowerment’.

Besides the services that will be electronically provided under e-Kranti,

not only will the information of the government functioning be accessible
online but a platform to engage citizens will also be initiated under the
‘Discuss’ and ‘Dissemination’ Approach. Coupled with making the
government accountable to the citizens, it will enable the citizens to
participate in the democratic framework of the country beyond exercising
basic voting rights. The campaign for “Digital India” unfolded on 1st July,
2015. Before the announcement of the Union Budget 2016-17,
improvement was observed in mobile manufacturing from Rs. 5.4 Cr. in
2014-15 to Rs. 11 Cr. in 2015-16. To give a boost to the same, Rs.
120,294 Cr. was allocated in the budget and duty advantage in
comparison with imported goods were given to encourage the domestic
manufacturing of components.

Under Bharat Net, the world’s largest rural broadband project using
optical fibre, 250,000 gram panchayats were expected to be connected
by high speed digital highway. By the end of 2016, the OFC pipe was
laid from 2292 km to 124,797 km. 40 lakh people against the target of
52.5 lakh people were trained in the IT sector. This led to generation of
employment with a net addition of 2 lakh people. As broadband
connectivity, digital literacy and cashless transactions were the primary
focus, the Union Budget (2017-18) saw heightened allocations in these
areas. From the Bharat Net project being given Rs. 1000 Cr., initiatives
like DigiGaon was launched to provide tele-medicine education and
skills through digital technology. To boost digital transactions, two
schemes to promote the usage of BHIM was launched– the Referral
Bonus Scheme for Individuals and Cashless Scheme for Merchants.

200000 Common Service Centers (to provide public internet accessibility

in remote areas with poor connectivity) had employed over 500000
youth by then. The 2018-19 Budget doubled the allocation on the Digital
India program to 3073 Cr. rupees with proposals to set up five lakh Wi-Fi
hotspots to provide net connectivity to five Cr. rural citizens and
development of online marketplace by stipulating 372 specific business
reform actions. The interim budget 2019-2020 released this year,
praising India of leading the world in consumption of mobile data and
monthly consumption of the same increasing by 50 times over the last
five years. It has elaborated on how mobile parts manufacturing
companies have increased from 2 to more than 268 providing huge job
opportunities. To expand the unprecedented proposal of Direct Benefit
Transfer, nearly 34 Cr. Jan Dhan bank accounts were opened.

On the flipside, internet usage has been close to 15% in India and
people residing in rural areas find it difficult to afford. Although Bharat
Net has been laying cables to ensure broadband connectivity, India
remains stuck at the total of 15 million wireless users. India was ranked
20th in Mobile Data Speed with an average speed of 0.99 mbps. Mobile
networks do not ensure working networks as 42,300 villages exist
outside the reach of a mobile signal. Villagers claim of electricity
unavailability in their areas, thus questions the establishment of the
Saubhagya scheme which has been deemed successful by the
government. In spite of the booming digital literacy initiatives, nearly
33% of the Indian population is illiterate and one-third of youth do not
attend secondary education, according to the World Economic Forum
report.

With 93% of the 475 million people engaged in unorganized labor and
most of them being illiterate, how will the technology installed help them,
especially farmers, to get real time price information, online ordering of
inputs and online loan relief? When underlining electronic manufacturing
as an essential component of digital economy, it was expected that
imports shall match exports by 2020. India, today, stands to import three
quarter of the $400 billion worth of electronic products it ought to
consume in the next five years, whereas, the hardware exports are still
under $10 billion. One of the major precepts of Digital India, proposes to
train over 10 million students from smaller towns and villages for IT
sector jobs. The quality of training is also largely questionable– 3 lakh
service delivery agents needs to be trained for IT services and 5 lakh
rural workers need to be trained by telecom operators.

India still ranks 91 out of the 138 countries on the Networked Readiness
Index (NRI) of 2016, a measure by WEF on examining the role of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in driving information.
On building infrastructure and level of skills among the population, India
has been ranked 101. In comparison to 2013(UPA regime), India has
fairly progressed. It is ranked 68 out of the 144 countries. Years
succeeding 2013 observed scores changing marginally whereas other
countries have been racing at a faster speed. With a comprehensive
analysis being made among the Union Budgets, it signals that “Digital
India” as a part of policy building program has been well nourished as an
infant and is in the transitional phase of childhood. With the same
conviction to nourish it in the path of success, days will not be far when it
will lead to a smooth and healthy transformation to adulthood.

How far has digitisation been effective in India

Growth consistently continues to move forward slowly in which
public-private partnerships (PPP) play a major role.
Development gained in the fields of technology, collaboration,
connectivity tools as well as changes in management practice
sensitively affect everyday life, indicating the significance of
digitisation in every individual’s life. Though, the restricted and
limited access to electricity in rural areas remains a major
impediment in the further development of digital technology.
The mission of making Smart Cities will promote the real estate
industry, the construction, the steel and concrete industry as
well as the infrastructure sector. ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital
India’ brought new opportunities for the technological sector.
Foreign companies are investing in India and are setting their
plants for manufacturing products which are being sold in this
country and are being exported also. The digitisation process
has left no untouched areas, but the lack of legal clarity makes
a negative impact on some sectors. Due to the political
framework, companies like Amazon and Uber had to face many
controversies with communal authorities, which is not suitable
for business in the digital era.

Major milestones and schemes under Digital India

The Digital India programme has witnessed a consistent upward growth
trajectory, achieving numerous milestones and dotted with major
milestones and flagship initiatives. These achievements cover a wide
plethora of sectors and include development of broadband highways,
universal access to mobile connectivity, public internet access
programmes, e-governance to name a few. Many major schemes and
projects such as Aadhaar, Smart Cities Mission, BHIM UPI, RuPay,
GSTIn, GeM (Government e-Marketplace), DigiLocker come under the
aegis of the Digital India programme.
Infrastructure enhancement
It has also initiated the ambitious Bharat Net programme, that undertook
the task of connecting 2.5 lakh gram panchayats by fibre-optic network
and has achieved around 1,40,000 connections thus far. Promoting
digital inclusion is also a core component of the initiative with
programmes like Common Service Centres (CSCs) that enable the
delivery of digital services through the internet in rural areas. The
scheme also works to promote employment in rural areas in digital and
allied services.
Development of technology startup ecosystem
The initiative also focuses on tapping into the potential of the digital
startup ecosystem, as India is home to 9,300 tech-startups which makes
it the third largest tech startup ecosystem in the world. A large number of
these startups dabble in niche areas in technology like AI, Blockchain,
analytics and cybersecurity. In order to create a conducive ecosystem
the MeitY has launched programmes like TIDE (Technology Incubation
and Development of Entrepreneurs), promotion of ESDM (Electronics
System Design and Manufacturing) Skill development and the setting of
incubation centers that are working to promote indigenous technology.
The growth in the e-commerce market, which is estimated to be worth
$54 billion in 2020 is testament to the Government’s efforts.
Global interest in Digital India Programme
The Government of India has also collaborated with major technology
companies worldwide to realise its vision. Google Inc. collaborated with
the Indian Railways to set-up free Wi-Fi services at 100 major railway
stations in India. Google worked in tandem with RailTel, an Indian PSU,
that deals with optic-fibre networks along railway tracks in India that will
be used to provide these Wi-Fi services. Microsoft Inc. has worked with
the Government of India on the Digital India Initiative, with their most
recent contribution being the “Digital Governance Tech Tour”. This is a
national programme that helps deliver critical AI and intelligent cloud
computing skills to Government officials in charge of IT across the
nation. The scheme has also received steady investments over the
years.
Road ahead
There is no doubt that the Digital India Initiative has been a huge
success in its first five years. However, it is imperative that an
accelerated focus is placed on certain core components such as
enhancing digital literacy and accessibility to truly realise the potential of
India’s digital economy. Though the Government has developed state of
the art systems and schemes, it is important to ensure that these
systems are prepared for interoperability across the board. The
Government must invest in focus areas in e-Commerce, data processing
and tech start-up ecosystem.
It is also important to acknowledge that the schemes and initiative under
Digital India don’t operate in a vacuum, it is important to create strong
legislative and administrative frameworks to facilitate the realisation of
this vision. There is a need for India to strengthen its cybersecurity
frameworks and promote informational privacy of citizens on an urgent
basis. The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, that is presently under
consideration by the Government, is a step in this direction and will help
India to protect and secure its digital interests and rights. It is also time
for India to forge digital policies that are tailored made for the Indian
scenario and tap into the vast treasure trove of technical competence at
India’s disposal.
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CASE STUDY- ARUNACHAL PRADESH

AP is one of the state that has come a long way since the launch of
digital india programme. Digital arunachal aims to enhance the states
socio-economic growth by improving effective egovernence,
digitalization, of various government services, connecting rural areas
with high speed internetatc and various imp schemes under the digital
india programme have been launch successfully in AP such as e-office ,
national scholarship portal, digilocker etc. additionally , there are several
other imp it initiative that have been initiated in the state
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Conclusion
The prime idea behind this digital India programme is vast and wide ranging.
The programme started with the objective of improving technical consciousness
of the people in India and make people digitally literate. There are a lot of issues
that the programme has experienced in execution, but the contribution it has
made towards economy, health, governance sector making everything
transparent and close to people is praiseworthy. The problems also can be
resolved by creating awareness among the people, maximizing internet
connectivity, improving skills in cyber security, participation of various
departments and amendments in various legislations can be of great help.