National Missions
Digital India (DI) is a flagship programme of the Govt. of India with a vision to transform India into digital empowered society and knowledge economy. It is a Programme to prepare India for a knowledge future. DI is an umbrella programme that covers multiple Government Ministries and Departments, with overall coordination by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). It weaves together a large number of ideas into a single, comprehensive vision so that each of them can be implemented as part of a larger goal. Each individual element stands on its own, but is also part of the larger picture. DI aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely Broadband Highways, Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology, e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services, Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing, IT for Jobs and Early Harvest Programmes. Each of these areas is a complex programme in itself and cuts across multiple Ministries and Departments.
A new formula has been devised - IT plus IT is equal to IT or Information technology plus Indian talent is equal to India tomorrow - for the country to adapt to new technologies and stay ahead of others. DI initiative aims at pulling together many existing schemes vis-a-vis restructuring, revamping, re-focusing and their implementation in a synchronized manner. Many elements are only process improvements with minimal cost implications. The common tagging of programmes as DI highlights their transformative impact. DI programme will be implemented in phases from 2014 onwards at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,13,000 Crores. The government is planning to strengthen National Informatics Centre (NIC) by restructuring it to support all central government departments and state governments. Wider consultations across government, industry, civil society, and citizens are intended to discuss various issues for arriving at innovative solutions and achieving the desired outcomes of DI initiative. A digital platform ‘myGov’ has been launched by DeitY to facilitate collaborative and participative governance.
DI provides the intensified impetus for e-Governance and would promote inclusive growth that covers electronic services, products, devices, manufacturing and job opportunities. DI programme is centred on three key areas: Digital Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen; Governance and services on demand; and Digital empowerment of citizens. Digital infrastructure will focus on providing high speed secure Internet as a core utility to facilitate online delivery of various services. It aims to set up enabling infrastructure for digital identity, financial inclusion and ensuring easy availability of common services centres. It intends at leveraging Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) for decision support systems & development. It also envisages to provide citizens with ‘digital lockers’ i.e. sharable private spaces on a public cloud, where documents issued by Government departments and agencies could be stored for easy online access. It is also planned to ensure that the cyberspace is made safe and secure.
The DI initiative aims at reforming Government through technology and providing Electronic Delivery of Services (EDS). Governance and services on demand will stress on seamless integration of services across departments and jurisdictions and making services available in real time for both online and mobile platform. It would also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of government’s services electronically, a Unique ID and e-Pramaan based on authentic and standard interoperable and integrated government applications and data basis. Digital empowerment of citizens will lay emphasis on universal digital literacy and availability of digital resources/services in Indian languages.