Digital India: A New Hope for the Indian Economy

The digitisation of an economy is a blessing, as it promotes sustainable growth by boosting production, generating employment, and enhancing the quality of life of society.

Overview

The introduction of digitalization technology has brought a revolution in the world. The waves of digitalization have reached far into the world economy. Developed nations have adopted the benefits of digitalization and leveraging. Countries like India, which are still in the era of industrialization, are actively working to become fully digital.

India is home to 15% of the global population. With a growth rate of 7 to 8%, India could be the second-largest economy by 2030. In order to accomplish this, the government of India, under the leadership of the fourteenth Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, on July 1, 2015, at Gandhinagar, undertook the project digital India. The motto of the programme is “power to empower”.

Introduction

Digital India is a dream project of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. The vision of Digital India is to have digital facilities available to all citizens with universal internet access, affordable devices and fast broadband speeds at a reasonable price. It will also promote digital literacy, through programs such as Internet Saath, so that everyone can find ways to connect with the world around them.

With over 280 million people living in rural India and a majority of those residing in villages, it is not surprising that much of this population does not have connectivity to the internet or e-governance services. In addition, the dearth of a common language across the nation poses a challenge for getting these people online.

Thus far, Digital India has been primarily focused on making Connecting Rural India with Fast Internet by installing towers for mobile service providers and providing government services online rather than in person. However, measures are being taken to ensure that more rural India is connected with the Fast Internet.

Harness the benefits of Digital India

Increased access to information and services for citizens; a higher standard of living; increased e-commerce and FDI; higher revenue for the government; and enhanced research capabilities for businesses are among the benefits of Digital India.The internet, regardless of language barriers, provides information about cultural events, food, entertainment, and health resources to everyone . Additionally, online services can simplify government procedures and provide services that would not be practical to offer in person. Digital literacy & Transformation programmes have enhanced education by making it more interactive and engaging. It has broadened the skills of Indian citizens so that they can find employment in a growing industry.

Expanding e-commerce will provide more options for consumers to shop while also providing a more reliable and secure option than traditional methods. Digital India has the potential to improve the standard of life for many Indian citizens by ensuring that they have access to information and services irrespective of their location. Besides this, the project will increase revenue for the government by encouraging more businesses to provide digital services and charge online fees for those services.

Better Governance and E-governance

Through technology, the government of India has taken the initiative to make government services more accessible to people across the country. With Digital India, the government aims to provide its citizens with a wide range of services, including health, education, and employment information.

In order to encourage more domestic business, Digital India also aims to streamline the government procurement procedure. Additionally, the government has also been collaborating with banks to make financial services reaching every corner of the country more accessible through the government’s mobile application, the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). In the future, the government is planning to receive money from overseas through UPI. Even brands like Paynearby & Spice money empowering India by helping people make easy transactions.

The e-Hospital programme and the e-Raj initiative are two other e-governance programmes run by the government. The e-Hospital programme aims to make health-related services available online, and the e-Raj initiative aims to make India’s government more open to the people.

Digital Literacy & Transformation

Under the guidance of government dignitaries, Digital India has designed a skill development programme to help “citizens acquire skills to make the most of the digital transformation in India.” This programme incorporates two key components: the Internet Saath campaign, which focuses on making digital literacy more approachable to the underprivileged; and the Internet Suraksha programme, which focuses on creating awareness about cybersecurity and safeguarding digital information.

The Internet Saath project includes services such as Samvida, which makes it easier for people in rural areas to access internet-based services, and e-Shodh, which promotes digital transactions and raises awareness about the advantages of using the internet. Notably, e-Shodh shares this information through comic books and other visual media. This is especially helpful for people who are not as familiar with technology and need simpler ways to understand it.

Internet Access for All Indian Citizens

Majority of people living in J&K, North East and other remote areas do not have access to the internet. The government took an initiative to better the lives of its citizens by broadening the range of internet access. To make it a success, Digital India has teamed up with Google and Facebook to extend the internet in highly remote and rural areas through solar-powered drones and satellites. The name of this programme is the Internet Saathi Project. Providing internet connections to rural women is the aim of this project, as they are less likely to have access to the internet than men.

Furthermore, the Airborne Network is an additional means of providing Internet access to all citizens of the country, regardless of location.This project uses satellites to collect data from rural areas and then transmit it via laser beams to a base station for conversion into internet data.Then the data is subsequently transmitted to local users who can access the internet using small antennas. However, this concept is still in the testing stage. If it works, it could connect even the most remote parts of the country to the Internet.

Conclusion

The government of India, through Digital India, aims to bridge the digital gap by expanding access to the internet across the country. However, since the majority of Indian citizens are already connected, the project aims to ensure that no one is left behind. The campaign also seeks to encourage digital literacy among all citizens of India, so that they can maximise their online experience. Several projects under Digital India have been carried out by the government to ensure more citizens are connected to the internet. These programmes include the Airborne Network, which plans to bring internet connection to all regions of the country, and the Internet Saath initiative. It intends to connecting rural India with Fast Internet and make it more accessible to the citizens. There is still tremendous work to be carried out to accomplish Digital India’s ambitions. It also emphasizes financial services reaching every corner of the country. Therefore, with the government’s efforts and the cooperation of its citizens, the motive of a digitally empowered India could become a full fledged reality in the coming years.