Digital India - What is Digital India?

The Government of India launched the Digital India campaign to ensure that the services of the Government are made available electronically to all citizens. This objective is achieved by strengthening online infrastructure and improving internet connectivity or to make India digitally empowered in the field of technology.

The Digitize India scheme includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks and improve digital literacy. The vision of the campaign is inclusive growth in all sectors.

Objectives of Digital India

• The development of a stable and secure digital infrastructure.
• Delivering government services digitally.
• Universal Digital Literacy.

Initiatives Under Digital India

The initiatives under Digital India are categorised based on the objectives of the scheme. The initiatives under Digital India are as follows:

Infrastructure

Under this initiative, the Government provides multiple programs that facilitate a reliable digital infrastructure. The following are some of the programs under this:

• AADHAR: One of the key strengths of ‘Digital India’, wherein every resident of the country is given a unique identity number.
• Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL): This is the custodian of Digital India. The creation of the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) has been mandated in India.
• Centre for Excellence for Internet of Things (CoE-IT): The main objective of the center is for creating domain capability and innovative applications. 
• CERT-IN: This is formed with the intention to secure Indian cyberspace.
• Common Services Centres (CSCS): CSCs are the access points for the delivery of essential public utility services, healthcare, social welfare schemes, financial, education, and agriculture services.
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra: The purpose of this is to generate secure cyberspace by detecting botnet infections in India and to notify, enable cleaning, and secure systems of end-users so as to prevent further infections.
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana: This is one of the flagship programs of the Power Ministry (MoP) and is designed to provide a continuous power supply to the entire rural India.
• DigiLocker: A digital wallet to empower citizens digitally.
• Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (DISHA): This aims to provide IT training to 52.5. lakh persons.
• Digitize India Platform: This platform provides digitization of scanned document images or physical documents.

Services

Under this initiative, the Government has introduced multiple online services to facilitate greater reach and accessibility:

• Accessible India Campaign and Mobile App: This nation-wide flagship campaign is for achieving universal accessibility for enabling people with disabilities to gain access to equal opportunity.
• Agrimarket App: This mobile application aims to keep farmers abreast with the crop prices and avoid distress sale.
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: This aims to provide equal opportunity to a girl child, a chance to be born and be educated.
• BHIM (Bharat Interface For Money): This makes payment easy and quick using UPI.
• Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS): This aims for nationwide networking infrastructure for the evolution of an IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system around ‘Investigation of crime and detection of criminals.’
• Crop Insurance Mobile App: This app can be used to compute the insurance premium for notified crops based on the area of coverage, amount, and loan amount in the case of loanee farmers.
• Digital AIIMS:  A distinctive health identification number for every patient visiting AIIMS was generated on an Aadhar platform.
• E-Granthalaya, E-Panchayat, E-Hospital, E-Pathshala, E- prison: All of these provide digitalization of services like libraries, hospitals, schools, and prisons.

Empowerment

Under this initiative, the Government provides e-governance, skill development, and infrastructure development initiatives:

• Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AEPS)
• BPO Scheme
• Digidhan Abhiyaan
• MyGov
• National Mission on Education using ICT
• North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS)
• NREGA – Soft
• OpenForge
• PayGov India
• Smart Cities
• Pradhan Mantri Jan- Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
• PAHAL (DBTL)
• Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)
• Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme For Electronics and IT

The Digital India initiative was introduced in the year 2015 and has achieved a considerable amount of digital literacy by making the internet available to many rural places.