Digital India: Objectives,
Initiatives and Inherent Challenges
Following China, India as of December 2015, had the
largest populace of internet userswith an astonishing number of around 402
million. Nevertheless, such high number still represents not more than 33% of
the total Indian population . The remaining population contributes somewhat directly
and/or indirectly to the digital illiteracy of the masses. Strategic advancements
in the field of Information Technology (IT) play a vital role in the transition
of developing countries into developed countries. Such a strategic project had
been launched by honorable Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi on 1st
July, 2015 and under the name of “Digital India” . Digital India is focused on bringing about a
new revolution in the country- the IT revolution. The Government of India
entity Bharat Broadband Network Limited which executes the National Optical Fibre Network project acts as the custodian of Digital
India project under the leadership of Prime Minister.
The connectivity of rural areas with high speed
internet networks is the key outline of Digital India project. The creation of
digital infrastructure, delivering services digitally to the masses and
multiplying the digital literacy rate in the country are the core components of
Digital India. The aspiring ₹ 113,000 Crore Digital India project is designed to
open up new platforms to provide digital access to all citizens along with
upgrading and improving the existing provisions. The objective of the project
is to integrate the government departments and the people of India
electronically and the same should be achieved by promoting digitally available
services, thereby reducing paperwork and ensuring swift service.
Digital India is expected to support the government
in achieving progress and growth on numerous fronts, specific targets, as
called the “Pillars of Digital India”, of the project are as follows:
a)
Broadband Highways
b)
Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity
c)
Public Internet Access Program
d)
e-Governance
e)
e-Kranti
f)
Information for All
g)
Electronics Manufacturing
h)
IT for Jobs
i)
Early Harvest Programs
Being aproject to be launched and implemented on
such a colossal scale and in a country with perturbing digital literacy rate, Digital
India project inherits inevitable challenges.
This study is aimed to assess and highlight the various objectives, initiatives
taken up by the government and challenges associated with the successful
implementation and execution of the Digital India project.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
The summarized objective of Digital India project
is to transform India into a digitally-empowered society and knowledge economy through
utilization of innovative ideas and practical solutions. The efforts are concentrated on the following
nine Pillars
of Digital India or key objectives of the project which are:
a) Broadband Highways: Digital India aims to have broadband networks that
will span India’s cities, towns and 250,000 villages by the end of 2016, along
with a system of networks and data centers called the National Information
Infrastructure. It is expected to transform citizen access to multimedia
information, content and services. It is also intended to give the government
access to a great deal of information.
b) Universal Access to
Phones: This focuses on mobile network penetration, with a plan to fill the
gaps in connectivity in India by 2018.
c) Public Internet Access: This
aims to increase the number of government-run facilities (Common Service Centers
or CSC) that provide digital services to citizens, especially in remote or
rural areas with low connectivity.The objective is to increase the 140,000
facilities to 250,000, or one in nearly every village. It also aims to convert
150,000 post offices into multi-service centers.
d) e-Governance: This aims at various processes and services which are needed to be
implemented to achieve digitizing of manual databases, introducing online
applications and tracking, using online repositories for citizen documents,
introducing publicly-visible government workflow automation, and public
grievance redress.
e) e-Kranti: It comprises 41 large e-governance initiatives, called “mission mode
projects”. They span e-education (all schools to get broadband and free wi-fi,
as well as MOOCs - Massive Online Open Courses), e-Healthcare and technology
for farming, security, financial inclusion, justice, planning and
cyber-security.
f) Information for All: This set of web, mobile and social media platforms
aims to connect citizens with the government. It is already well under way,
both on social media, and the citizen portal www.mygov.in.
g) Electronics Manufacturing: This plan aims for “net zero imports” in
electronics, or imports that match exports by value, by 2020. The plan includes
incentives for big chip fabrication as well for mobile and set-top box manufacturers,
and clusters and incubators for start-ups.
h) IT for Jobs: This aims on training 10 million students from smaller towns and
villages for IT sector jobs over five years. Setting up Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) locations in every north-eastern state, 300,000 service
delivery agents to be trained for IT services, and 500,000 rural workers to be
trained by telecom operators for their own needs.
i) Early Harvest Programmes: Early Harvest Programme basically consists of those
projects which are to be implemented within short timeline. A few of the
projects under the Early Harvest Programme are Biometric
attendance, Secure Email within Government, Public Wi-fi hotspots, SMS based
weather information, disaster alerts, National Portal for Lost & Found children,
etc.
INITIATIVES TAKEN UP BY
THE GOVERNMENT
The digital initiatives undertaken by the
government towards the successful execution of Digital India project this year
are as:
a) Digital Locker: As per this initiative there is no need for people to carry the hard
copies of the certificates issued by states, municipal agencies, and other
bodies. Birth certificates, school and college leaving certificates, residence
and marriage proof, and even PAN cards will be digitized. The government is
expected to roll out a national depository that will hold these records. Each
private locker will store all the important documents of users, which are
digitally verified by the government. Now rather than sending physical copies,
the link of that cloud folder having digital copies of verified certificates
can be shared.
b) Digital Life Certificates: The ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ scheme, with this, the
pensioner will do away with the requirement of submitting a physical life
certificate in November each year and can now digitally provide proof of their
existence to authorities for continuity of pension every year. A software
application developed by the Department of Electronics and IT enables the
recording of the pensioner’s Aadhar number and biometric details from their
mobile device or computer, by plugging in a biometric reading device. The key
details of the pensioner, including date, time, and biometric information, will
be uploaded to a central database on real-time basis, ultimately enabling the
pension disbursing agency to access a digital life certificate.
c) Twitter Samvad: The Twitter Samvad will enable the citizens to be the first to know
about new government initiatives and actions. It is a service that let leaders
and government agencies communicate with the people through tweets and SMS.
d) Madad: This initiative is introduced by External Affairs Minister, the portal
‘Madad’ will enable Indian citizens living abroad to file consular grievances
online to address the complaints promptly. The initiative will speed up
forwarding and handling of complaints, improve tracking and redress and
escalate unresolved cases. According to officials, maximum priority would be
given to cases related to bringing back ‘mortal remains’ of any national.
e) SMS-Based Cyclone Warning System: This program is to create an SMS-based weather
information and disaster alert system. Information on warnings will be
disseminated to officials involved in administration, district magistrates/ collectors
besides fisherman, farmers, and general public.
f) Online Facility for Firms to File Single Return: In order to cut down the
complexities of doing business and reduce cost, the Labor Ministry launched an
online facility for firms to file a common return on its portal to comply with
as many as eight labor laws at one go. With this, the companies can now file
single unified return which will reduce cost of business transaction.
g) Online facility to Issue PAN Card in 48 hours: An online facility under
which a PAN card will be issued within 48 hours of applying. Under this initiative,
special camps will be organized throughout the country including rural areas to
help people get PAN cards.
h) eMoney: The Department of Posts (DoP) has planned to provide electronic money
order service to 70% of its total post offices by December. Also, it will make
the whole process secure and fast. People can send a maximum of Rs 5,000
through e-money order.
i) Pragati: It is an interactive platform for public grievances redressal. It is
aimed at monitoring and reviewing programs and projects of the Government of
India as well as state government initiatives and also addressing common man’s
grievances. This step is expected to make governance in India more efficient
and responsive.
INHERENT AND INEVITABLE
CHALLENGES
Even though the project is ambitious and continuous
efforts are being made on all fronts simultaneously to lead it to greater
success, it is not free from various challenges associated with its various
aspects. Successfully implementing a project on such an extensive scale poses
various hurdles and obstacles which are needed to be clearly understood and
progressively eradicated. The various challenges associated with the specified
targets and objectives of Digital India project are as:
a) Broadband Highways: Laying a net of cables doesn't ensure their proper
and efficient utilization. After years
of broadband and nationwide fibre-optic infrastructure targets, India remains
stuck at a total of 15 million wire line broadband users. Yet mobile broadband
use has exploded, currently standing at 85 million users. This project needs
content and service partnerships with telecom companies and other firms, with
new entrepreneurs.
b) Universal Access to Phones: “Universal access” does not guarantee a working
network. Even in its major cities, India’s mobile networksare so stressed resulting
in call failures and drops. An intense shortage of spectrum has driven up costs
and driven down service quality for India’s telecom industry.
c) Public Internet Access: A low digital literacy rate and digital divide are
of concern with respect to this project.
d) e-Governance: A number of challenges have limited the reach and impact of
e-government. Several social, economic and political barriers constrain the
scope of transformation and restrict the ability of policy makers to make
effective use of new technology. The two most commonly cited constraints are
digital divide and the political nature of public sector reforms.
e) e-Kranti: It will be a big challenge for the government to set up the required
digital infrastructure in the rural areas and ensuring that the benefit of
technology reaches all the citizens and not just the urban lot.
f) Information for All: Cyber security and fraud is major concern for a
project dealing with online hosting of information & documents.
g) Electronics Manufacturing: Demand for electronic goods is increasing with a
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22% and is expected to touch 400 Billion
USD by 2020. Existing structures are inadequate to handle this goal and need
strengthening.
h) IT for Jobs: The challenge here is not just the numbers, but quality. The technology
sector increasingly finds that the dwindling manpower resources available for
its jobs are under-trained and mismatched to its needs. A pool of more skilled
workforce is crucial to meet this goal.
i) Early Harvest Programmes: Digitization of various departments and documents,
use of dedicated communication modes i.e. government emails etc. would require enhanced
and upgraded infrastructure.
To get the fruits of the
Digital India initiative, there should be efficient inter-governmental
coordination. Although the Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) is leading
it forward, there is an active involvement of telecommunication, justice,
finance and planning, health department et al. Without a smooth teamwork
between them, this mission would never be implemented to its full strength.
Though India has every
necessary resource required to implement it, the government needs to realize
the strong capability being built in the private sector and needs to leverage
that.
These challenges indicate
that Digital India has a long way to go on its road to reality in its truest
sense. The government cannot overstep them, no matter how trivial they might
seem to be.
Ms. Shikha Kukreja
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication Studies
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