Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
Digital governance in India - statistics and facts
Widespread digital transformation in India is leading the country into an era of digital governance. The economic liberalization of 1991, industry-related reforms, and increasing interest of foreign multinationals in the Indian market spiraled into the growth of the Indian IT industry and digital infrastructure in the country. The developments in the 1990s culminated in the introduction of the Information Technology Act, of 2000, India’s first IT-related regulation. This was followed by the national e-governance plan in 2006.
The most recent digital reforms were introduced in 2015 under the the Digital India Initiative. It aims to connect the population of more than a billion with governmental organizations, narrowing the divide between digital haves and have-nots. This multi-faceted program aims to transform the nation’s consistently growing digital infrastructure into a public utility paving way for digital governance. Digital India’s faceless, paperless, and cashless economy is slowly translating into easier access to various government services and platforms.
Despite leaps in e-governance and structural reforms, the major challenge faced by the Indian state is the disparity in the penetration rate of internet services in rural and urban areas. Increasing internet penetration rates and teledensity also do not automatically translate to digital literacy which entails comprehending and critically utilizing digital platforms. It is likely that in the future digital inclusion is intertwined with socio-economic progress. And the biggest challenge will be to ensure that marginalized groups are not left behind in this digital progress.
The most recent digital reforms were introduced in 2015 under the the Digital India Initiative. It aims to connect the population of more than a billion with governmental organizations, narrowing the divide between digital haves and have-nots. This multi-faceted program aims to transform the nation’s consistently growing digital infrastructure into a public utility paving way for digital governance. Digital India’s faceless, paperless, and cashless economy is slowly translating into easier access to various government services and platforms.
Faceless, paperless, and cashless economy
India’s federated digital building blocks in the form of public infrastructure, collectively called the India Stack include various aspects of a citizen’s digital life. It comprises digital identification and authentication such as Aadhar identification, eKYC (Know your customer), eSign; digital assets and e-governance services such as DigiLocker (document access platform), UMANG e-platform, Common Service Centres (CSCs), and lastly, a vast number of digital transaction services under National Payment Corporation of India such as United Payment Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), RuPay and many more. The Jan-Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile or JAM trinity connects bank account, unique identification, and mobile number, enabling direct cash transfer of subsidy to the beneficiaries. The digitalization of government processes has thereby also accelerated financial inclusion in rural areas.Challenges ahead
More than one billion Aadhaar users and millions of internet users amplified the use and storage of personal data by the government and tech giants which exposed the inadequacy of current regulations in preventing privacy breaches. To counter such issues, the government recently unveiled the draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 which is likely to safeguard personal data, with penalties for data breaches, however, non-personal data is kept out of its ambit.Despite leaps in e-governance and structural reforms, the major challenge faced by the Indian state is the disparity in the penetration rate of internet services in rural and urban areas. Increasing internet penetration rates and teledensity also do not automatically translate to digital literacy which entails comprehending and critically utilizing digital platforms. It is likely that in the future digital inclusion is intertwined with socio-economic progress. And the biggest challenge will be to ensure that marginalized groups are not left behind in this digital progress.
