INTRODUCTION:

Digital India is a flagship programme of the Government of India

with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and
knowledge economy.

E-governance initiatives in India took a broader dimension in the mid

1990s for wider sect oral applications with emphasis on citizen-centric
services. The major ICT initiatives of the Government included, inter alia,
some major projects, such as railway computerization, land record
computerization etc., which focused mainly on the development of
information systems. Later on, many states started ambitious individual e-
governance projects aimed at providing electronic services to citizens.

Though these e-governance projects were citizen-centric, they could

make less than the desired impact due to their limited features. The isolated
and less interactive systems revealed major gaps that were thwarting the
successful adoption of e-governance along the entire spectrum of
governance. They clearly pointed towards the need for a more
comprehensive planning and implementation for the infrastructure required
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to be put in place, interoperability issues to be addressed etc., to establish a
more connected government.

The national level e-governance programme called National e-

Governance Plan (NeGP) was initiated in 2006. There were 31 Mission
Mode Projects under National e-Governance Plan covering a wide range of
domains viz. agriculture, land records, health, education, passports, police,
courts, municipalities, commercial taxes and treasuries etc. 24 Mission
Mode Projects have been implemented and started delivering either full or
partial range of envisaged services.

Considering the shortcomings in National e-Governance Plan that

included lack of integration amongst Government applications and
databases, low degree of government process re-engineering, scope for
leveraging emerging technologies like mobile and cloud etc., the
Government of India approved e-Kranti programme with the vision of
“Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance”.

All new and ongoing egovernance projects as well as the existing

projects, which are being revamped, should now follow the key principles
of e-Kranti namely ‘Transformation and not Translation’, ‘Integrated
Services and not Individual Services’, ‘Government Process Reengineering
(GPR) to be mandatory in every MMP’, ‘ICT Infrastructure on Demand’,
‘Cloud by Default’, ‘Mobile First’, ‘Fast Tracking Approvals’, ‘Mandating
Standards and Protocols’, ‘Language Localization’, ‘National GIS (Geo-
Spatial Information System)’, ‘Security and Electronic Data Preservation’.

The portfolio of Mission Mode Projects has increased from 31 to 44

MMPs. Many new social sector projects namely Women and Child
Development, Social Benefits, Financial Inclusion, Urban
Governance eBhasha etc., have been added as new MMPs under e-Kranti.
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ABOUT THE DIGITAL INDIA:

Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in

order to ensure the Government's services are made available to citizens
electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet
connectivity or making the country digitally empowered in the field of
technology.[1][2] The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas
with high-speed internet networks.It consists of three core components: the
development of secure and stable digital infrastructure, delivering
government services digitally, and universal digital literacy.

Launched on 1 July 2015, by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

it is both enabler and beneficiary of other key Government of India
schemes, such as BharatNet, Make in India, Startup India and Standup
India, industrial corridors, Bharatmala, Sagarmala

As of 31 December 2018, India had a population of 130 crore people

(1.3 billion), 123 crore (1.23 billion) Aadhaar digital biometric identity
cards, 121 crore (1.21 billion) mobile phones, 44.6 crore (446 million)
smartphones, 56 crore (560 million) internet users up from 481 million
people (35% of the country's total population) in December 2017, and 51
per cent growth in e-commerce.

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 NARENDRA MODI’S Dream Of A Digital India!

 The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today described cyber-related

risks as a global threat of "bloodless war," and called upon the nation's IT
community to serve the entire world by building credible cyber-security
systems. He was speaking at the launch of the Digital India week in New
Delhi today.
 The Prime Minister also exhorted the captains of India's IT industry to
boost production of electronic devices and goods in the country, as part of
the "Make in India" initiative, to reduce dependence on imports.
 Shri Narendra Modi noted that today, it was not enough for India to say that
it is an ancient civilization, and a country of 125 crore with favourable
demography. He said modern technology needs to be blended with these
strengths.

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 The Prime Minister reiterated his Government's resolve to not allow the
Digital Divide to become a barrier between people. He outlined his vision
of e-governance and mobile governance, where all important Government
services are available on the mobile phone. "I dream of a digital India
where High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation; 1.2 billion connected
Indians drive innovation; technology ensures the citizen-government
interface is incorruptible," the Prime Minister said.
 The Prime Minister said that earlier, India was criticized for launching
satellites, but now it was recognized that these satellites help the common
man, for instance, farmers through accurate weather forecasting. Similarly,
the Prime Minister said, the Digital India initiative was aimed at improving
the lives of the common man. He said that India may have missed the
Industrial Revolution, but will not miss the IT revolution.
 The Prime Minister assured full support to young entrepreneurs who wished
to launch Start-ups. He called upon the youth to innovate and said "Design
in India" is as important as "Make in India."
 The Prime Minister unveiled the "Digital India" logo and released policy
documents related to Digital India. He also felicitated two women CSC
village level entrepreneurs.

USES OF DIGITAL INDIA:

 There is an increase in electronic transactions related to e-governance.

 An optical fiber network of 2, 74,246 km has connected over 1.15 lakh
Gram Panchayats under the Bharat Net programme
 A Common Service Center (CSC) is created under the National e-
Governance Project of the Indian government which provides access for
information and communication technology (ICT). Through computer and
Internet access, the CSCs provide multimedia content related to e-
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 governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment, and other
government and private services.
 Establishment of digital villages along with well-equipped facilities such as
solar lighting, LED assembly unit, sanitary napkin production unit, and Wi-
Fi choupal.
 Internet data is used as a major tool for the delivery of the services and the
urban internet penetration has reached 64%.

PURPOSE OF DIGITAL INDIA:

The motto of the Digital India Mission is ‘Power to Empower’. There
are three core components to the Digital India initiative. They are digital
infrastructure creation, digital delivery of services, and digital literacy.

 The major objectives of this initiative are listed below:

 To provide high-speed internet in all gram panchayats.
 To provide easy access to Common Service Centre (CSC) in the entire
locality.
 Digital India is an initiative that combines a large number of ideas and
thoughts into a single, comprehensive vision so that each of them is seen as
part of a larger goal.
 The Digital India Programme also focuses on restructuring many existing
schemes that can be implemented in a synchronized manner.

Digital India Present & Future

Digital India is an initiative of Government of India to promote the use of
digital technology to provide the services to the people of India. Digital
technology is an umbrella term that covers a range of technologies
including cloud computing, mobile devices, internet and more. Digital India

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 programmed was launched on First July, 2015 by the Prime Minister of
India. The initiative includes plans to connect ruler areas with high-speed
internet Network. The goals of this project are:

 Development of secure and stable Digital Infrastructure.

 Delivering government service digitally.
 Universal Digital literacy.

The “Digital India” initiatives aim at availing digitizing of various

individual projects of all central government and ministries like education,
health, business and other services.
PM Modi rightly said in his speech in San Jore ”I see technology as a
means to empower and as a tool that bridges the distances between hope
and opportunity. Social media is reducing social barriers. It connects people
on the strength of human values, not identities.”

I. DIGITAL INDIA COMPONENTS

To achieve the goal of Digital India, Government of India focused on

following key components:

 Broadband highway: To provide this basic internet connectivity in all areas

within the country to all citizens.

 Rural area: Governments aims to lay national optical fiber network in all
2.5 lakh villages, gram panchayats would be covered under the Bharat net,
with the help of Indian department of telecommunication.

 Urban area: Communication Infrastructure would become mandatory in

new urban settlements and buildings. NIT (National Information
Infrastructure) would integrate the existing, such as State Wise Area

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 Network (SWAN), Bharat net, NKN (national Knowledge Network) etc.

 Easy Access to Mobile connectivity: This ensures that by 2018 all villages
are covered through mobile connectivity. Around 55,669 villages in India
don’t have mobile coverage. Now a day plans are going on to remaining
villages be provided these services
 Public Internet Access program: This concept focus on providing internet
connection to 2.5 lakh villages which comprises of one is every panchayat
by March 2017 and
o 1.5 lakh post office next two years.

 E-Governance: E-Governance ensures people to provide the facilities and

improve process and delivery of many Government services like Unique
Identification card (Aadhar Card), payment gateway, Pan-Cards, School
certificates, etc.

 e-Kranti: The main objective of e-Kranti to deliver electronic services to

people which deals with health, education, farmer, justice, security and
financial inclusion. ex-e-payment, e-justice etc

 Information for all – The concept of information to all ensures online

hosting of all information and documents. These information and
documents should be open and easy access to all citizens. For example
www.mygov.in is a website lunched by the government to implement 2-
way communication between citizens and the governments.

 Manufacturing of Electronic Product: The government focus on promoting

manufacturing of electronic products in the country with the target of
ZERO import ants by 2020.

 Information Technology for jobs - The Government focuses on providing

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 training to 10 million people in town and villages for IT sector jobs in 5
years. It also aims to provide training to 0.3 million agents to run viable
business delivery IT services.

 PRESENT STATUS OF DIGITIZATION Theme of Digitalization of India

can be visualized as [1]:

 IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information Technology)

 = IT (India Tomorrow).
 Table 1 shows some effects of digitization. Some systems like identifying
residents, issuing of documents, Payment, learning resources etc has been
digitized and its effect can be seen.

 Government is also dedicated to solve all problems in just a few clicks. To

accomplish this task the digital literacy plays a vital role. Many
telecommunication companies are also dedicated to build digital India.

 Recently developed a new technology (VOLTE, LTE) make a dramatically

changes in technology i.e. 4G, 5G and show on. It provides the following
services in very efficient & effective ways.

 Artificial Intelligence.

 Virtual reality

 MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output).

 The main objectives digital India is at least one person in a house should
aware with literal literacy in this can be connectivity of local institution like
panchayats, office, school, and other government areas

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`ISSUES.
 To accomplish goal of digitalization of India government facing following
social and infrastructural issues:

 Poverty - The poverty is slap on the face of digital India, A person who has
no Roti what they will think about digital India or digital literacy.

 Government should take suitable steps to minimum need of poor. Digital

India is also important but as wall as without poverty we can’t think about
digitalization.

 Illiteracy - This is primary element to archive digitalization without literacy

can’t archived our objective.

 Government has launched various program which are dedicate for digital
literacy such as- advertising, camping, adult education, short term training,
skill development India.etc

 Electricity Problem - Most remote areas in India there is lack of electricity,

the person who belongs to that area, they are digital literate but can’t do
anything.

 Digital fraud & Cyber Crime - Day by day new hacking tools and
technologies developed which makes data security issues.

 Radiation problem: The network tower which transmits the signal effect
the human body causes different health is problem

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III. FUTURE EXPECTATION

 Digital India is one of the great initiatives in the development of India.

Initially this program shows a great success. Future expectation of Digital
India may be following
 Well defined infrastructure: High speed internet connection should be
available for every gram panchyats, easy access to common services centre
within their locality and safe & secure cyber space in the country
 Governance and service on demand: Single window access all the person by
integrating departments of jurisdiction viability of government services in
online mobile platform
 Digital empowerment of citizens: All digital services should be universally
accessible all government document and certificate to be available on the
cloud
 Cash less India: one major expectation is to move from cash- based
transaction to digital transitions, whether through bank debt card, credit
card, or mobile wallets is a major catalyst for economic growth
 Online voting (e-Election): Online voting system will be made possible by
industry leading technologies. It leads to following benefit

Digital Marketing
Digital is one of the fastest moving topics. A few years ago, AI was a
distant future, and now AI is the heart of global business and industry.
Through programmatic advertising, you can use AI to automate your
ad buying, which helps you narrow down your audiences.

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 Conversational marketing arranges a quick one-to-one connection
between customers and digital marketers.
Voice searches and smart speakers changing the way people use to
search and optimizing your content for voice searches can create new
opportunities for your business.
Browsers push notifications, AB Testing, interactive content, and
goes on and on.
Marketers get new ways to effectively target their audiences, which is a
primary reason the digital marketing industry is growing.

Future Growth of Digital Marketing

By 2023, the number of active Indian internet users will reach almost
666 million. Based on the report of GlobalData, the Indian e-commerce
market is pushing to 7 trillion rupees by 2023 because of lockdowns.
According to Goldman Sachs report, digital marketing career scope
in the Indian market will be worth $160B by 2025, which is three times the
current value.
Digital marketing is expected to create 20 lakh jobs by 2020.
The number of internet users is expected to reach 800 million by
2021.
If you are a digital marketer or want to get into digital marketing, your
salary growth will heavily depend on your skills. You have to run along
with the industry and update yourself to be successful. The day you stop
learning, the day you stop growing in this fast-paced industry.

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More information on Digital Marketing

Career in Digital Marketing: Ultimate Guide

Digital marketing career opportunities are accelerating at an unprecedented
rate. If you want to learn something every day, you can even move up the
ranks and become a manager. However, there are several other reasons why
a career in digital marketing can be profitable for you.

Utilization of skills
In the modern world, companies are looking for people with soft skills. If
you are someone from the middle-income bracket and have some digital
skills under your belt, then you can upscale yourself by learning more
skills, especially in this area.

Versatile field
With digital marketing, very little training is required for you to make the
required switch to other options. In most cases, digital marketing fields
have something for everyone. You can build upon your existing skills and
learn new skills on the job.

Evolving industry
Digital marketing is quite new in that aspect and it is always growing. If
you are eager to learn and improve, there’s always something around the
corner. Many are digital marketing courses to penetrate this industry and
reap its benefits.

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 Vision of Digital India

Centered on 3 Key Areas

• Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen

• Governance & Services on Demand

• Digital Empowerment of Citizens

Vision Area 1: Infrastructure as a Utility

to Every Citizen

• High speed internet as a core utility

• Cradle to grave digital identity -unique,
lifelong, online, authenticable
• Mobile phone & Bank account enabling
participation in digital & financial space
• Easy access to a Common Service Centre
• Shareable private space on a public
cloud
Safe and secure Cyber-space
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 Vision Area 2: Governance & Services on Dem

• Seamlessly integrated across departments or

jurisdictions
• Services available in real time from online
&mobile platform
• All citizen entitlements to be available on the
cloud
• Services digitally transformed for improving
Ease of Doing Business
• Making financial transactions electronic &
cashless
• Leveraging GIS for decision support systems &
development

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 Vision Area 3: Digital Empowerment of Citi

• Universal Digital Literacy

• Universally accessible digital resources
• All documents/ certificates to be
available on cloud
• Availability of digital resources / services in
Indian languages
• Collaborative digital platforms for
participative governance
• Portability of all entitlements through cloud

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 Nine Pillars of Digital India

1. Broadband 1. Broadband
Highways Highways

2. Universal Access 2. Universal Access

to Phones to Phones

3. Public Internet 3. Public Internet

Access Programme Access Programme

1. Broadband
Highways

2. Universal Access
to Phones

3. Public Internet
Access Programme

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How Digitalization Paves the Way for
Overall Growth of Indian Economy
India is chalking out its own growth strategy driven by digitalization,
connectivity, cash -less/paper-less economy, and start-up innovation
ecosystem. Indian economic growth will be driven by the rising tech adoption
[3]. Smartphone’s penetration is rising in the country with 700 million users
expected by 2020; we will have 331 million internet users by 2020. With
Aadhaar UID, 1 billion users can authenticate 100 transactions per day in real
time. India Stack is a complete set of APIs for developers which include
Aadhaar for authentication, e-KYC, and e-sign amongst others. All these will
propel technological disruption, digital connectivity, the growth of tech start-
ups in order to achieve the said vision of Digital India. Technology will allow
businesses to transact easily and efficiently, and thus contribute faster to
economic growth. The launch of new devices that feature iris scanner that is
Aadhaar and STQC certified, will enable cashless and paperless services for
banking, passport, taxation, etc. All these, along with Immediate Payment
Service, Unified Payments Interface, micro ATMs, m-POS and financial
inclusion programs by the Government (such as Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan
Yojana), will aggressively pave the way for digital payments in India. After
demonetization on November 8, we have seen an adoption of payment
solutions like e-wallets, cash cards, bit coins, online platforms and POS
(point-of- sale) services. Coming back to India Stack, and how it will
revolutionize the space for business, fuel innovation, India stack comprises of
four key layers- presence-lesses, paperless, cashless and consent. This means
for tech start-ups and app developers is that they can readily create novel
business apps using the infrastructure provided by the stack. To conclude we
cannot emulate other economics. Technology and digitalization will propel
growth in India. Digital Bharat is the goal, which will create opportunities for
stakeholders and industries alike. The cashless and paperless economy is
catapulting small and medium businesses, making it easier to transact. So
much data and transactions are creating huge demands for cybersecurity,
storage, web performance and faster computing. A digitally-advanced India
will create more job opportunities. Homes, businesses and industries will

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become smart, cities will be run on the click of a button, transactions will be
done without cash hassles and the overall economy will become stronger.

Highlights Of The Progress In Digital India

 More than 12,000 rural post office branches have been linked digitally
and soon payment banking would also become a reality for them.
 The government also plans to make ‘digital village’ across the country,
by linking all schemes with technology. The ‘digital village’ would be
powered by LED lighting, solar energy, skill development centers and
e-services like e-education and e-health.
 Electronic transactions related to e-governance projects in the country
have almost doubled in 2015, owing to the Digital India Programme.
According to government website electronic transaction aggregation
and analysis layer (eTaal), 3.53 billion transactions took place in 2014,
which almost doubled in 2015 to 6.95 billion [5]. In a year that will be
remembered for “note bandi”– a colloquial term for the withdrawal of
86 percent of the value of India’s currency in circulation on 8
November – cashless payments in October 2016 increased 22 percent,
when compared to October 2015, indicating that Indians have been
steadily more accepting of various digital payments modes since last
year[4].
 The progressive policies and aggressive focus on ‘Make in India’ have
played a significant role in the resurgence of the electronics
manufacturing sector.

Proposed Impact Of Digital India

The estimated impact of Digital India by 2019 would be cross cutting,
ranging from broadband connectivity in all Panchayats, Wi-Fi in schools and
universities and Public Wi-Fihotspots. The programme will generate a huge
number of IT, Telecom and Electronics jobs, both directly and indirectly. The
success of this programme will make India Digitally empowered and the
leader in usage of IT in the delivery of services related to various domains
such as health, education, agriculture, banking, etc.Digital empowerment of
citizens will pay emphasis on universal digital literacy and availability of
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digital resources/services in Indian languages. The programme will be
implemented in phases from 2014 till 2018. The source of funding for most
of the e-Governance projects at present is through budgetary provisions of
respective ministries/departments in the central or state governments.
Requirements of funds for the individual project(s) for Digital Indiawill be
worked out by respective nodal ministries/departments Digital India
Programme and Impact of Digitalization in Improving Quality of Life of
Citizens 13

14 Research in Digital Revolution and New India (ISBN : 978-1-

5136-2964-3) but according to government estimate it will cost Rs 113,000
crore. To implement this government is planning to strengthen National
Informatics Center (NIC) by restructuring it to support all central government
departments and state governments [9].

A. Economic impact:
According to analysts, the Digital India plan could boost GDP up to $1
trillion by 2025. It can play a key role in macro economic factors such as
GDP growth, employment generation, labor productivity, growth in a
number of businesses and revenue leakages for the Government. As per
the World Bank report, a 10% increase in mobile and broadband
penetration increases the per capita GDP by 0.81% and 1.38%
respectively in the developing countries. India is the 2nd largest telecom
market in the world with 915 million wireless subscribers and world’s 3rd
largest Internet market with almost 259 million broadband users. There is
still a huge economic opportunity in India as the teledensity in rural India
is only 45% where more than 65% of the population lives. Future growth
of telecommunication industry in terms of a number of subscribers is
expected to come from rural areas as urban areas are saturated with a tele-
density of more than 160%.

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B. Social impact:
Social sectors such as education, healthcare, and banking are unable to reach out
to the citizens due to obstructions and limitations such as middleman,
illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, lack of funds, information and investments.
These challenges have led to an imbalanced growth in the rural and urban
areas with marked differences in the economic and social status of the people
in these areas. Modern ICT makes it easier for people to obtain access to
services and resources. The penetration of mobile devices may be highly
useful as a complementary channel to public service delivery apart from the
creation of entirely new services which may have an enormous impact on the
quality of life of the users and lead to social modernization. The poor literacy
rate in India is due to unavailability of physical infrastructure in rural and
remote areas. This is where m-Education services can play an important role
by reaching remote masses. According to estimates, the digital literacy in
India is just 6.5% and the internet penetration is 20.83 out of 100 populations.
The Digital India project will be helpful in providing real-time education and
partly address the challenge of lack of teachers in the education system
through smart and virtual classrooms. Education to farmers, fisher men can be
provided through mobile devices. The high speed network can provide the
adequate infrastructure for online education platforms like massive open
online courses (MOOCs). Mobile and internet banking can improve the
financial inclusion in the country and can create a win-win situation for all
parties in the value-chain by creating an interoperable ecosystem and revenue
sharing business models. Telecom operators get additional revenue streams
while the banks can reach new customer groups incurring lowest possible
costs. Factors such as a burgeoning population, poor doctor-patient ratio
(1:870), high infant mortality rate, increasing life expectancy, fewer quality
physicians and a majority of the population living in remote villages, support
and justify the need for tele-medicine in the country. M-health can promote
innovation and enhance the reach of healthcare services. Digital platforms can
help farmers in know-how (crop choice, seed variety), context (weather, plant
protection, cultivation best practices) and market information (market prices,
market demand, logistics).

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C. Environmental impact:
The major changes in the technology space will not only brought changes to
the economic system but will also contribute to the environmental
changes. The next generation technologies will help in lowering the
carbon footprint by reducing fuel consumption, waste management,
greener workplaces and thus leading to a greener ecosystem. The ICT
sector helps in efficient management and usage of scarce and non-
renewable resources. Cloud computing technology minimizes carbon
emissions by improving mobility and flexibility. The energy consumption
can be decreased from 201.8 terawatt hour (TWh) in 2010 to 139.8 TWh
in 2020 by higher adoption of cloud data centers causing a 28% reduction
in carbon footprint from 2010 levels.

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 India’s Rank on Ease of Doing
Business – 134 (World Bank Ranking
2014)

Sr. Component Rank (2014)

No.
1 Starting a Business 179
2 Dealing with Construction Permits 182
3 Getting Electricity 111
4 Registering Property 92
5 Getting Credit 28
6 Protecting Investors 34
7 Paying Taxes 158
8 Trading Across Borders 132
9 Enforcing Contracts 186
10 Resolving Insolvency 121

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 Digital Banking Meaning
Digital Banking is the automation of traditional banking services.
Digital banking enables a bank’s customers to access banking products and
services via an electronic/online platform. Digital banking means to digitize
all of the banking operations and substitute the bank’s physical presence
with an everlasting online presence, eliminating a consumer’s need to visit a
branch.

Benefits of Digital Banking

Advancing to a more technologically sophisticated way of doing things, it
goes without saying that the benefits long outweigh the costs. Similarly, digital
banking as a technological by-product aims to make life easier for the customers
of a bank. Digital banking has the following benefits:

 Digital banking enables consumers to perform banking functions from the

comfort of their homes, be it an elderly person who is tired of waiting in
lines or a working-class professional who is caught up with work, or a
regular person who does not want to visit the bank’s branch to run a single
errand. It also offers convenience.
 Elaborating on the convenience offered, digital banking lets a user carry out
banking work around the clock, with 24*7 availability of access to banking
functions.
 One of the biggest drawbacks of traditional banking was the overly placed
importance on paper. Banking has become paperless with the development
of digital banking as a service. A user can log into their account at any point
in time to monitor records.
 Digital banking allows a user to set up automatic payments for regular
utility bills such as electricity, gas, phone, and credit cards. The customer no

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 longer has to make a conscious effort of remembering the due dates. The
customer can opt for alerts on upcoming payments and outstanding dues.
 Online shopping has become a cakewalk with payment channels becoming
well-integrated with the online shopping portals. Internet banking has
significantly contributed to online payments.
 Digital banking extending services to remote areas is seemingly a step
toward holistic development. With smart phones at affordable prices and
internet access in remote areas, the rural population can make the most out
of digital banking services.
 Digital banking-enabled fund transfers reduce the risk of counterfeit
currency.
 With the help of digital banking, a user can report and block misplaced
credit cards at the click of a button. This benefit greatly strengthens the
privacy and security available to a bank’s customer.
 By promoting a cashless society, digital banking restricts the circulation of
black money as the Government can keep a track of fund movements. In the
long run, digital banking is expected to lower the minting demands of a
currency.

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 Types of Digital banking payments
 Banking cards: Cards are not only used to withdraw cash but also enable
other forms of digital payment. Cards can be used for online transactions and
on Point of Sale (PoS) machines. Prepaid cards can also be issued by the
banks; such cards are not linked to the bank account but function through the
money loaded onto them.

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 Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD): By dialing the number
*99#, mobile transactions can be carried out without an application and
internet connection. The number holds nationwide applicability and
promotes greater financial inclusion on the ground level. The service lets the
caller surf through an interactive voice menu and chooses the desired option
on the mobile screen. The only catch is the mobile number of the caller
should be the one linked to the particular bank account.
 Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS): AEPS lets the client initiate
banking instructions following the successful verification of the Aadhaar
number.
 Unified Payments Interface (UPI): UPI is the most trending form of digital
banking presently. UPI makes use of a virtual payment address (VPA) so the
user can transfer funds without entering bank account details or IFSC code.
Another striking feature of UPI is that the applications let you consolidate all
your bank accounts in one place. Funds can be transferred and received
around the clock with no time restrictions. UPI-based apps in India are
BHIM, PhonePe, and Google Pay. BHIM application, in addition to the
transfer of funds to other virtual addresses and bank accounts, also lets the
user transfer funds to another Aadhaar number. More importantly, UPI-
based payments are free of cost.
 Mobile Wallets: Mobile wallets have eliminated the need to remember four-
digit card pins or enter CVV details or carry loose cash. Mobile wallets store
bank account and card credentials to easily add funds to the wallet and make
payments to other merchants with similar applications. Popular mobile
wallets are Paytm, Freecharge, Mobiwik, etc. Mobile wallets, however,
generally have a limit on how much can be deposited in the wallet. A small
fee may also be charged on depositing the funds from the mobile wallet back
into the bank account.
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 PoS terminals: Typically, PoS machines are portable devices that read a
card to authorize and complete the payment. Supermarkets and gas stations
opt for this method of payment. However, with digital banking thriving, PoS
terminals have evolved into more than physical PoS devices. Virtual and
Mobile PoS terminals have surfaced, which makes use of the mobile phone’s
NFC feature and web-based applications to initiate payment.
Internet and Mobile Banking: Commonly known as e-banking, internet
banking refers to obtaining certain banking services over the internet, such
as fund transfers, and opening and closing accounts. Internet banking is a
subset of digital banking because internet banking is only limited to core
functions. Similarly, mobile banking is availing banking services through
mobile-based applications

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Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen:
High speed internet shall be made available in all gram panchayats; Cradle
to grave digital identity; Mobile and Bank account would enable
participation in digital and financial space at individual level; Easy access to
common service centre within their locality; Shareable private space on a
public cloud; and Safe and secure cyber space in the country.

Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen:

High speed internet shall be made available in all gram panchayats; Cradle
to grave digital identity; Mobile and Bank account would enable
participation in digital and financial space at individual level; Easy access to
common service centre within their locality; Shareable private space on a
public cloud; and Safe and secure cyber space in the country.

Governance and Services on Demand:

Single window access to all persons by seamlessly integrating departments
or jurisdictions; availability of government services in online and mobile
platforms; All citizen entitlements to be available on the Cloud to ensure
easy access; Government services to be digitally transformed for improving
ease of doing business; Making financial transactions above a threshold,
electronic and cashless; and Leveraging GIS for decision support systems
and development.

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Digital empowerment of citizens:
Universal digital literacy; All digital resources universally accessible; All
government documents/certificates to be available on the Cloud; Availability
of digital resources/services in Indian languages; Collaborative digital
platforms for participative governance; Portability of all entitlements for
individuals through the cloud.

industry (manufacturing) or services. This programme will help in

creating employment opportunities in the country so that the GDP and per
capita income increases, and the lifestyle of people can be improved. It
circulates around three key areas. These are- Developing digital
infrastructure, e-governance and digitally empowering the citizens. Some of
the facilities provided under this programme are, digital locker, e-mandi, e-
education, e-hospitals, e- banking, e-government, e-sign, etc.

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 E-learning will shape the way for advance learning methods in edtech
With the internet penetration rate estimated to reach above 55 per cent
by the end of 2025 in India, digitisation of education remains one of the
topmost priorities of our government. Taking the cue, many e-learning
portals have appeared and are performing well as an increasing number of
learners enrol themselves for online courses — the new normal post the
pandemic.

Starting 2020, Indian universities and colleges, which were earlier not
permitted to offer more than 20 per cent of a degree online, are now lifting
the restrictions on online learning to widen access to higher education and
raise the profile of Indian institutions globally. Many edtech companies have
also surfaced and are offering learning management resources, including

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 blended learning, 3D and DIY kits and AI-based experiential and interactive
learning, to provide an unrivalled experience.

Emphasis on digitisation
Realising that rapid development depends on widespread education,
the government rolled out a new National Education Policy (NEP) that puts
emphasis on digitisation besides the use of technology in education. It also
focuses on edtech for furthering education, particularly in the rural areas.
This was mainly done to take quality education to all parts of the country,
especially the Tier-2 and 3 cities and villages. The government learnt that
technology has the power to reach small towns and villages and provide
access to quality teachers. This was a distant dream but massive tech
disruptions across the country have successfully executed the mammoth task
that was earlier unimaginable.

Budget 2021-22 allocated ₹93,224.31 crore to the Ministry of

Education. It was an increase of over ₹8,100 crore from the revised estimates
for the current fiscal and the Department of Higher Education was allocated
₹38,350.65 crore.

4 Ed-Tech platforms elevating online learning amidst Covid-19

Bridging the digital divide

The shift to online education also brings forward the conversations around
digital divide and digital readiness of every stakeholder and institution. School and
higher education institutions like colleges and universities are two different
markets with their own set of challenges and digital preparedness.

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 Education rising on the digital
learning curve

Digital divide in schools is significantly higher than in higher

education institutions. The Budget too talks about bridging the digital divide
in government and private schools, which is another area that needs
improvement. Work is needed to make education accessible through digital
means for all school students, irrespective of their location, financial
background, and internet and bandwidth connectivity. Creating the right
infrastructure, hiring good teachers and building a suitable curriculum for
every school is the way forward. We also need to measure school students’
readiness for adoption of online examination processes by way of mock test

sessions and its analytics .

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 Latest tools, methodologies
Bidding adieu to the traditional teaching methods and issues such as
shortage of teachers, inadequate student-teacher ratio, and insufficient
teaching resources, digitisation in education has made way for the latest
teaching tools and methodologies that are now reaching students in the
remotest corners of the country. And with inclusive education being one of
the goals of the government, the remote teaching model is likely to serve
well.

The technology is also helping teachers connect with several students

spread across several locations simultaneously. The interactive digital media
also is a great solution to the shortage of teachers in the country. To facilitate
the same, it plans to use technology to upgrade the skills of teachers through
the online portal DIKSHA. It is a digital platform for teachers across the
nation that allows them to stay equipped with advanced digital technology
while giving their lifestyle a digital twist.

Online exams too

In line with the education trends, examinations too are being conducted
online. Digital platforms support customised assessments, online proctoring
and certification apart from enabling secure, scalable and credible remote
exams. These web-based computerised exams have a magnitude of benefits
as they reduce costs, are time-saving, have a wider reach and are extremely
secure. This is because the process minimises human, operational,
infrastructure and logistical costs apart from saving the time consumed in
planning, coordination and result generation. The platform can support a
much larger candidate pool with no geographical constraint while ensuring

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auto invigilation of each candidate through strict prevention of content leaks
and impersonation.

In the days to come, digital education will further witness significant

changes in the way universities and colleges provide education. This
accelerated shift towards adoption of digital means in both access to
education as well as its assessment isn’t a temporary trend but will have long-
term consequences that will shape the new normal future. We will soon
experience a myriad of possibilities emerging out of digital education to
empower the youth of India.

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CONCLUSION
Digital India initiative has been launched on July 3, 2015 (1.13
lakh crore cost) with a vision to digitally empower each and every
citizen of the country. Though the plan is ready and we are good to go,
but is it is not that easy to transform words written on a 'white paper'
into a reality. The foremost challenge is to increase digital literacy in
the country. To make broadband affordable and accessible, one needs
to keep in mind certain ground realities. India is a diversified country,
in terms of language, culture, laws which vary from states to states.
Complete integration, that is integration of technology and language, is
one of the main challenges the mission would face in its
implementation. In a world where Internet and cybercrime are
inseparable enemies. The entire architecture should be designed in
such a way that there is proper authentication done of all the
documents put online by citizens and it is available to the right users at
any time they want with the right authentication, so proper security
measures needs to be taken by government. To get the fruits of the
Digital India initiative, there should be efficient inter-governmental
coordination and active participation of all the citizens, and then only
we will be able to convert the dream of digital India into reality.

Thank you

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