Digital India

• Version 2.0 of E-Governance
• Advancements: Digitally empowered citizens, to ensure interface (Application interface), Interdepartmental & inter-ministerial coordination, monitoring (Social Audit/Administrative monitoring), focus of manufacture (Instead of import led mechanism – Performance linked incentive scheme), compressive & consolidation mechanism.
• Digital India is an incremental mechanism of E-Governance, Not a structural shift
• In order to sort out some of the flaw and issues with respect to National e-Governance plan and others, government came with version 2.0 of National e-governance in the flagship name of Digital India in 2015 to achieve Minimum Government maximum governance.
• Digital India is the name given to the flagship programme that aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered nation and a knowledge economy.
• It is different from previous programmes as it is a plan of great magnitude, bringing in several departments as well as including existing programmes.
• It ensures creation of a digital Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen by way of ensuring high speed internet connectivity.

(Digital India use as tool to make other programs → Make in India, startup India, standup India, Digital inclusion, SDG 2030).

• PPP Model, Update of new technology (AI, Machine learning) – Center of forum for AI.
• Governance services and demands are seamlessly integrating across departments, ministries, services available in real time through online and mobile platforms. (E.g. JAM Trinity, Single window clearance system)
• Digitally empowerment of citizens by means of Digital literacy, Universal accessible to digital services and facilitate all documents available to citizens on cloud (Digital Locker System).
• There is an aim to financially empower citizens through industrial development and plugging loopholes through e-governance in the distribution of subsidies. (E.g. JAM Trinity, Direct Benefit transfer, PAHAL).
• Government is trying to use mobile technology and its IAS Academy connectivity to digitally connect, access and transact their basic services online (Mobile Governance/M-Governance).
• It acts both as an enabler and a beneficiary for the progress of other schemes like Make in India, Startup India, Bharatmala, UPI etc
• Prime Minister Modi who said, “For me IT + IT” or, as he elaborated, "Indian Talent + Information Technology = India Tomorrow emphasized the role of Digital India.

Nine pillar of Digital india:

1. Broadband for all- Bharat Net/virtual connectivity, SWAN, NKN, NOFN.
2. Universal access to Phone- M-Governance.
3. Public internet access program (E.g. Free wifi-Railtel, National Rural Internet mission).
4. E-governance by reforming government services through technology (Government process Re-engineering).
5. E- Kranti (Version 2.0 of National E-governance [31 Mission → 70 Mission]).
6. Information for all (Right to Information- Jan sooch Portal {Rajasthan}, My gov.in)
7. Electronic manufacturing scheme (Target net zero import by 2020, E.g. Performance linked incentive scheme).
8. IT for Jobs.
9. Early harvest program (Wi-Fi for schools, Universities, e-books, Disaster alert E-greetings, Biometric attendance etc…).

Issues

• Infrastructure: Many people could not afford a smartphone, got exposed in pandemic situation, creates a great digital divide between have and have not and urban, rural divide (E.g. Hybrid education system affects poor from reaching Education Internet).
• Imbalanced sectoral growth: Some of the sectors such as Banking, Financial, KPO sectors achieved transformation but sectors like Education, Health and small scale Business still lacks Digital development. (Development in sector specific in sectoral area. Ex: Private interest to develop school in Cities not in Village).
• Idle Government RFPs: Many Request for Proposals (RFPs) issued by the government are not being picked up by competent private sector organisations since they are not commercially viable. E.g. Education, Health. (Not for social Development)
• Spectrum availability in Indian metros is about a tenth of the same in cities in developed countries. This has put a major roadblock in providing high speed data services, 5G.
• Poor Connectivity: The report estimated that India needs over 80 lakh hotspots as against the availability of about 31,000 hotspots at present to reach the global level of one Wi-Fi hotspot penetration for every 150 people.
• Policy Making: To enable development of digital infrastructure, it said uniform (Right of Way) RoW policy (Approval) across all states with a reasonable cost structure is required along with a single window mechanism for granting RoW permissions. (Need of Geography specific & Location specific policy)
• High Internet shutdowns: The report, "Shattered Dreams and Lost" stated India witnessed the highest number of Internet shutdowns in the year 2020. As per a report, India has topped the list of 29 countries that disrupted internet access for people in 2020. (556 total shutdowns, 320 in J & K only)
• Lack of Data protection law: In Puttuswamy v UOI, Se stated Right to privacy as fundamental rights, there is poor data security faced in the social media and lack of Data protection law creates additional fear among the citizens.
• Cyber Crime: There is cyber threat all over the globe and digital India will be any excepuon, very recently after the pandemic cyber security issue like Phishing, Ransomware, Data theft causes poor implementation of Digital India.
• Inter Departmental Coordination: Within the government there are various departments which should be integrated. Integration has technical as well as psychological issues.

Way forward:

• No doubt the pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of digital infrastructure so there is no any second opinion whether digital infrastructure is necessary or not. But it is essential to strengthen the Digital Infrastructure in various ways to achieve Digital India a great success and medium to achieve Good Governance.
• Need effective Data protection to protect our data, information, health records, and safeguard from digital threats such as scam, hacking, malwares; a factor that impacts businesses, economies, and people financially.
• disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain technology, Meta verse, Chtbots, 3D printing, Edge computing, Virtual E- verification expected to galvanise sectors that affect the well-being of every Indian, ranging from agriculture to various sectoral development.
• Integrating various Government services under one umbrella to create an easy solution for the access of services for the citizen (E.g. Single Qvindow system).
• Improve the capacity building mechanism in public services especially in Bureaucracy (Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare Indian civil servants for the future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled,").
• Creating new business opportunities to reach India to the next IAS Academy such as India's online gaming industry is expected to expand at a compound. annual growth rate of 40% to $2.8 billion by 2022, up from $1.1 bin in 2019, E-Medicine, Tele medicine etc.
• Protect sensitive Data's in the domestic level and make OTT platform Branch office in India in healthy way to ensure privacy and National security. (E.g. Tokenisation).
• Ensure Adequate hardware (Chip sets, Batteries) and software development with domestic manufacturing to ensure Self-sufficiency as well as tool to achieve Digital India.
• The government's Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan [PMGDISHA] has ambitions of making 60 million Indians digitally literate, and it is anticipated that this programme will attain greater traction in the davs ahead.
• Ensure Sustainable development in all the spheres especially regulating e-waste, Promoting Circular economy, 4E's (Refuse, Reduce, Recycle and Recover).
• There is a need to equally participate with the private sector for all-inclusive socio-economic growth and use digital infra investment as a force for growth. This will expand networks to unserved rural areas and will be a big achievement. (E.g. ‘Internet Saathi̇' program).

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