Digital India Programme: Importance And Impact

The Digital India programme has been launched with an aim of transforming
the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The
Digital India would ensure that Government services are available to citizens
electronically. It would also bring in public accountability through mandated
delivery of government’s services electronically; a Unique ID and e-Pramaan
based on authentic and standard based interoperable and integrated government
applications and data basis.

NINE PILLARS OF DIGITAL INDIA

Key Projects of Digital India programme:

1. Digital Locker System aims to minimize the usage of physical documents
and enable sharing of e-documents across agencies. The sharing of the e-
documents will be done through registered repositories thereby ensuring the
authenticity of the documents online.
2. MyGov.in has been implemented as a platform for citizen engagement in
governance, through a “Discuss”, “Do” and “Disseminate” approach. The
mobile App for MyGov would bring these features to users on a mobile phone.
3. Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Mobile app would be used by people and
Government organizations for achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission.
4. eSign framework would allow citizens to digitally sign a document online
using Aadhaar authentication.
5. The Online Registration System (ORS) under the eHospital application has
been introduced. This application provides important services such as online
registration, payment of fees and appointment, online diagnostic reports,
enquiring availability of blood online etc.
6. National Scholarships Portal is a one stop solution for end to end
scholarship process right from submission of student application, verification,
sanction and disbursal to end beneficiary for all the scholarships provided by the
Government of India.
7. DeitY has undertaken an initiative namely Digitize India Platform (DIP) for
large scale digitization of records in the country that would facilitate efficient
delivery of services to the citizens.
8. The Government of India has undertaken an initiative namely Bharat Net, a
high speed digital highway to connect all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of country.
This would be the world’s largest rural broadband connectivity project using
optical fibre.
9. BSNL has introduced Next Generation Network (NGN), to replace 30 year
old exchanges, which is an IP based technology to manage all types of services
like voice, data, multimedia/ video and other types of packet switched
communication services.
10. BSNL has undertaken large scale deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout
the country. The user can latch on the BSNL Wi-Fi network through their
mobile devices.
11. To deliver citizen services electronically and improve the way citizens and
authorities transact with each other, it is imperative to have ubiquitous
connectivity. The government also realises this need as reflected by including
‘broadband highways’ as one of the pillars of Digital India. While
connectivity is one criterion, enabling and providing technologies to facilitate
delivery of services to citizens forms the other.
Highlights of the progress in Digital India
• More than 12,000 rural post office branches have been linked digitally and
soon payment banking would also become a reality for them.
• The government also plans to make ‘digital village’ across the country, by
linking all schemes with technology. The ‘digital village’ would be powered by
LED lighting, solar energy, skill development centres and e-services like e-
education and e-health.
• Electronic transactions related to e-governance projects in the country have
almost doubled in 2015, owing to the Digital India Programme. According to
government website electronic transaction aggregation and analysis layer
(eTaal), 3.53 billion transactions took place in 2014, which almost doubled in
2015 to 6.95 billion.
• The progressive policies and aggressive focus on ‘Make in India’ have played
a significant role in the resurgence of the electronics manufacturing sector.
Proposed Impact of Digital India
A. Economic impact:
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 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 tele-density in rural India is only 45% where more
than 65% of the population lives. Future growth of telecommunication industry
in terms of 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 reach out
to the citizens due to obstructions and limitations such as middleman, 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 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
population. The digital India project will be helpful in providing real-time
education and partly address the challenge of lack of teachers in 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 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.
Conclusion
A digitally connected India can help in improving social and economic
condition of people through development of non-agricultural economic
activities apart from providing access to education, health and financial
services. However, it is important to note that ICT alone cannot directly lead to
overall development of the nation. The overall growth and development can be
realized through supporting and enhancing elements such as literacy, basic
infrastructure, overall business environment, regulatory environment, etc.
Digital India and its Impact
1. Introduction
 To prepare India for a knowledge future.
 Umbrella project
Coordinated by DeitY, implemented by the entire government.
 Existing schemes will be restructured and re-focused implemented in a
synchronized manner.
2. Three vision area Infrastructure as a utility to everyone Governance and
services on demand Digital empowerment to every citizen
3. D I G I T A L I N D I A
Vision Area 1: Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen  High speed
internet  Unique digital identity  Mobile phone & Bank account 
Common Service Centre Safe and secure Cyber-space
4. D I G I T A L I N D I A  integrated departments  Services available in
real time, online  All citizen entitlements to be available on the cloud 
cashless financial transactions electronic Vision Area 2: Governance &
Services On Demand
5. D I G I T A L I N D I A  Digital Literacy  Universally accessible
digital resources  documents on cloud  services in Indian languages 
Collaborative digital platforms for participative governance Vision Area
3: Digital Empowerment of Citizens
6. D I G I T A L I N D I A Pillar 1. Broadband Highways Broadband for all
Rural Broadband for all Urban National Information Infrastructure Pillar
2. Universal Access to Mobile connectivity Mobile connectivity in all
villages filling the gaps in connectivity in the country National
Information Infrastructure
7. D I G I T A L I N D I A Pillar 3. Public Internet Access Programme –
National Rural Internet Mission Common service centres in villages Post
office to become Multi services centres Govt. services to all Electronic
Databases Pillar 3. Public Internet Access Programme – National Rural
Internet Mission Pillar 4. e-Governance: Reforming Government through
Technology Workflow automation within Govt. Government Business
Process Re-engineering using IT
8. D I G I T A L I N D I A Pillar 5. eKranti - Electronic Delivery of Services
E-Education and e- health care and e- Banking E-security and e-justice E-
planning and e-Agriculture Pillar 6. Information for All Online Hosting of
Information & documents 2-way communication and MyGov app Online
messaging
9. D I G I T A L I N D I A Pillar 7. Electronics Manufacturing NET ZERO
Imports by 2020 Rural youth skill development Focused areas are smart
cards, mobiles, Set top boxes Train people in smaller towns & villages for
IT sector jobs Train Service Delivery Agents to run viable businesses
 delivering IT services Telecom service providers to train rural workforce
to cater to their own needs Pillar 8. IT for Jobs
10. D I G I T A L I N D I A Pillar 9. Early Harvest Programmes Wi-Fi in all
universities and school books to be e-books e-Greetings from Govt. and
secure e-mail within Govt and secured govt. websites SMS based weather
information and disaster alerts and Govt. portal for lost and found
children
11.D I G I T A L I N D I A Various researches and reports said- 1.Iyer et
al.2014 in their book they focused on the need of Digital India
programme and the role played by e-Goveranance programme in our
economy. 2.Sardana 2015 emphasized on the benefits of digital literacy,
hurdles in the way of digitalisation and the strong political dedication to
implement the programme. 3.Cheema 2015 in an article concluded that
they key challenge is the implementation of DIP in remote area and
suggest some policies for it. 4. Chopra and Ritika 2015 summarized that
to over come from the draw backs of e- governance programme DIP
launched by Govt. 5. Jaini & Tere 2015 accepted that DIP is the need of
our economy and a tool for development. The paper also concluded that
the DIP reduces the paper work and digitalization increases GDP of the
economy.
12.D I G I T A L I N D I A Impacts on the Economy Economic Impacts
1.Improved output of the all sectors of economy. 2.Reducion in imports
expenditure. 3.Online delivery system reduce the cost 4.Atracts foreign
investment in economy. Social Impacts 1.All socioeconomic facilities
will equally available to all. 2.Improvement in social economic status.
3.Easy access to all resources 3. In short time delivery of services.
Environmental impacts 1.Save environment 2.Reduce paper consumption
3.Reduce fuel consumption 4.Reduce carbon emission 5.Reduce the
travel cost 6.Save natural resources.
13.Challenge in the future 1.High cost of the project. 2.Lack of education
and basic infrastructure. 3 lack of management among ministries. 4.Lack
of private sector contribution. 5.Lack of security from cyber crimes.
6.Lack of skilled human capital