Digital India Mission – A Digital Platform to Provide High Internet Access to Rural Regions!

What does the Digital India Scheme mean?

The flagship effort of the Indian government, known as the “Digital India Scheme,” aims to make India into a knowledge-based society and economy. To provide every inhabitant of the nation access to the internet, the 1.13 lakh crore-costed Digital India program was launched on 3rd July 2015. Its objective is to guarantee that citizens may access government services online by doing away with paper-based processes.

A strategy to develop fast internet networks in rural regions is also included. It is put into effect by the government under the direction of Deity (Department of Electronics and Information Technology). The Minister of Communications and Information Technology is in charge of the Monitoring Committee on Digital India, the Cabinet Secretary is in charge of the Digital India Advisory Group, and the Prime Minister is in charge of the Apex Committee.

Portal for Digital India

We are all aware of the great work that the Indian government has done with “Digital India.” As a hub for complementary service providers, Digital India offers highly efficient electronic payment systems, e-governance solutions, and services for local utility firms & telecom. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DietY), which oversees this initiative, has the assistance of the federal and state governments.

The owners of this digital platform have extensive expertise in providing e-government services. The firm establishes connections with operators, networks of customers & merchants, infrastructure providers & financial institutions. India’s digitization depends on it.

This website offers a wide range of services to the general population, including Pan cards, mobile and DTH recharge, energy bills, ITR, and GST. As a result, in order to profit from them, you must be signed up for the Digital India Portal 2022. Learn more about the certificate, the application card, and the registration procedure by reading this article.

Three concerns are the main focus of the Digital India Mission:

• To make digital facilities available to all residents as a valuable resource.
• On-demand services and governance
• Making certain that each citizen has access to the internet.
• The goal of Digital India’s founding was to support inclusive growth in the e-services, commodities, manufacturing, and employment sectors.

Digital India's goals

The slogan of the Digital India Programme is “Power to Empower”. main parts. They are creating digital infrastructure, providing services online, and having a working knowledge of the internet.

The following list includes the main goals of this initiative:

•  To make the internet with high-speed available in every gram panchayat.
•  To make the (CSC) Common Service Centre accessible to everybody in the area.
•  The “Digital India” program integrates all of these concepts into a single, all-encompassing vision, allowing each one to be seen as a component of a bigger objective.
• This Programme also emphasizes reorganising several current programs that may be put into action in unison.

The infrastructure of the Digital India Scheme

The government offers many programs as part of this project that helps to support a dependable digital infrastructure. Some of the programs falling under category include:

AADHAR: One of the main benefits of “Digital India,” which provides each citizen with a distinct identity number.

Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL): The guardian of Digital India is the Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL). In India, it is required to build the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN).

Centre for Excellence for Internet of Things: The major goal of the Centre for Excellence for Internet of Things (CoE-IT) is to develop domain expertise and cutting-edge solutions.

To safeguard Indian cyberspace, CERT-IN was established.

Common Services Centres (CSCS): CSCs are the sites of access for the provision of critical public utility healthcare, services, finance, education, social welfare programs,  and agricultural services.

Cyber Swachhta Kendra: By identifying botnet infections in India, Cyber Swachhta Kendra seeks to create a safe cyberspace. It also alerts users, enables system cleaning, and secures their computers to stave against new infections.

DDUGJY: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramme Jyoti Yojana: This is one of the Power Ministry’s (MoP) major programs, and it aims to continuously deliver electricity to all of rural India.

DigiLocker: An online wallet for digitally empowering individuals.

Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan: The Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (DISHA) program intends to teach 52.5 lakh people in IT.

Digitize India Platform: The portal “Digitise India” offers the digitalization of actual documents as well as scanned document pictures.

The benefits of the Digital India Mission

The “Digital India Mission” program makes recommendations for how to link rural areas of the nation to high-speed web connection. The Public Internet Access Programme is one of the nine pillars that make up the Digital India initiative. India is one of the two nations in the world that has adopted digital technology the most, and by 2023, experts predict that India’s digital economy will have reached $1 trillion.

A few benefits of Digital India include:

•    Electronic transactions for e-governance are becoming more prevalent.
•   To give access to information and communication technology (ICT), the Indian government’s National e-   Governance Project established a Common Service Centre (CSC). Through computer and Internet access, the CSCs offer multimedia material relating to education, health, entertainment, e-governance, telemedicine,  and other private & public services.
• The creation of digital communities with modern amenities like solar lighting, Wi-Fi, LED assembly lines, and sanitary product manufacturing facilities.
• The utilisation of internet data as a primary instrument for service delivery has increased to 64% in metropolitan areas.
• Thanks to the Digital India Scheme, 12000 rural post offices may now be electronically connected, increasing the number of electronic transactions related to e-governance.
• More than 1.10 lakh Gramme Panchayats have been connected to an optical fibre network that has a total length of Rs 2, 77,245 km as part of the Bharat Net Scheme.
•  For service delivery and urban internet penetration, internet data is a key instrument. Nearly 64% of it has been achieved.
• In comparison to 10-15 million daily users, there are currently 300 million daily active internet users.

Initiatives for a Digital India

Numerous projects have been launched by the government as part of the Digital India effort. Several of these significant endeavours are covered below:

•  DigiLockers: By giving citizens access to genuine digital documents through their DigiLockers, a digital     document wallet, a flagship project, intends to “Digitally Empower” them.
•  E-Pathshala: Using the website and educational e-resources, mobile app, such as journals, textbooks, audio, video, and a range of other non-print & print materials are available.
•  E-Hopital: It is an (HMIS) Hospital Management Information System, which is an all-in-one digital platform that links patients, hospitals, and clinicians. As many as 420 e-Hospitals have been built as part of the Digital India initiative as of February 2021.
•  BHIM: Using the (UPI) Unified Payments Interface, BHIM – Bharat Interface for Money is an app that expedites & streamlines financial transactions.

Initiative for Digital India launched

In front of prominent CEOs from India and overseas, PM Narendra Modi announced the ambitious Digital India program on 1st July 2015, during an event held in New Delhi to commemorate the first Digital India Week. This new effort has been praised by the business community as a significant step towards modernising India’s digital infrastructure for the future generation and as a driver of investment in the IT sector and the creation of jobs. To ensure the success of the program, these CEOs have pledged to contribute Rs. 4.5 lakh crore.

Difficulty Faced by the Scheme

The Digital India Mission is an endeavour by the Indian government to link high-speed internet networks to the nation’s rural areas. Along with its numerous projects, Digital India also faces several difficulties.

The following list includes a few of Digital Mission’s difficulties and shortcomings:

• In comparison to other industrialised countries, the Wi-Fi hotspot & daily internet speed availability are  poor.
• The majority of small and medium-sized businesses struggle greatly with current technology adaptation.
• The restricted speed with which entry-level phones can connect to the internet;
• The dearth of skilled workers in the field of digital technology.to search for a million cybersecurity  professionals to examine and keep an eye on the rising threat of cybercrime.
•  Insufficient user education.

Influence of the Digital India Campaign

The following are a few of the campaign’s obvious effects:

•    The Digital India program has had an impact in several sectors since its beginning in 2015:
•   Around 12000 postal service outlets have been electronically connected in rural regions.
•   The Make in India program has helped the country’s electronic manufacturing sector.
•   The Digital India initiative may boost the country’s GDP by $1 trillion by 2025.
•    Additionally, inactivity has increased in the healthcare and educational sectors.
•    An upgraded online infrastructure will aid in economic progress.

Narendra Modi's promotion of the Digital India Initiative while in the US

In Silicon Valley, San Jose, California, on 26th Sept 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the CEOs of leading IT companies. He gave them a pitch for the Digital India program and emphasised to them that it is an effort to reshape India in a way that has never been accomplished before in history.

The PM encouraged Apple CEO Tim Cook to establish a manufacturing facility in India and welcomed IT companies to establish bases for electronic production there. The PM also revealed a Google-led initiative to increase WiFi coverage at 500 Indian railway stations, while Microsoft revealed an early proposal to make Indian-based Cloud Services accessible.

Top executives from IT companies support the goal of Digital India and are eager to devote resources to its realisation; as a result, PM Narendra Modi’s present drive will undoubtedly help realise his vision for Digital India.