A Citizen Friendly Digital Country
In contrast to traditional infrastructure needs like power, water, and roads, digital infrastructure has come to be seen as an equally important or even more important infrastructure essential to citizens. Not only has the Covid-19 epidemic changed the world’s order, but it has also given the rapidly growing digital infrastructure a boost.
The efficiency of society and the standard of living of its population both depend on its digital infrastructure. India has about half a billion internet users, and several homegrown digital services are predicted to completely change the country’s digital economy.
All residents must have access to essential services and equitable opportunities for the digital economy to prosper.
Status Quo of Citizen Centricity in India’s Digital Revolution
Through its Digital India initiative, the government seeks to connect the entire nation to high-speed internet. It also intends to create a range of digital services to assist residents and enhance governance.
MyGov: By offering a single digital platform where residents may express their thoughts on government programmes and projects, it has established a strong foundation for citizen engagement and participatory governance in the nation.
Unified Payments Interface: Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), it is an instant real-time payment system that enables interbank transactions using mobile devices.
MeghRaj: The government has launched an ambitious effort called GI Cloud, which has been given the moniker MeghRaj, in order to utilise and reap the benefits of cloud computing.
The goal of this programme is to maximise government ICT spending while accelerating the delivery of e-services in the nation.
Portal SWAYAM: SWAYAM, which offers more than 2,000 open courses, and SWAYAMPRABHA, a collection of 32 DTH TV channels dedicated to broadcasting high-quality educational programs, are poised to transform the educational system.
Major Obstacles
Centralisation can lead to tension between the central and the state because digital technology unifies governance and the central government possesses the majority of data. It gains more significance when the Central government establishes precise requirements for data sharing as a condition of receiving financial aid.
The main obstacle to the success of the digital India program’s technology adoption is the high level of digital illiteracy. India also ranked 73rd out of 120 nations in terms of internet literacy. (2021)
Additionally, a significant obstacle to digital literacy is the lack of local language support for digital services.
There is a significant digital infrastructure gap between urban and rural India, and financial issues mean that rural infrastructure development costs are still too high.
Because towers in remote areas are not commercially viable due to the burgeoning private telecom market, competent private sector organisations steer clear of doing so. Currently, mobile coverage is unavailable in over 25,000 communities since it is not economically feasible to provide it there.
Instead of cultivating consumer loyalty, large tech businesses acquire rivals. They use their dominance in one industry to establish monopolies in others, entrapping customers in their ecosystem of goods and services.
Conclusion: Way Forward
To strengthen India’s digital revolution, promote transparency, and decentralise information, governance and blockchain technology must be integrated.Additionally, the regulated development of quantum technology and the internet of things would provide India with new potential to build a real-time-based economy.
By serving as a bridge between rural residents and the government, Common Services Centers (CSCs) can be revitalised at the panchayat level as digital access points for providing e-services to citizens. This would increase openness, accountability, and efficiency in the delivery of services.
However, very few of the successful projects currently underway in the nation are on a national scale. The country needs to scale up and duplicate effective models. The IT sector and regulators/government agencies would need to work together in a meaningful way and harmonise their regulatory approaches to view the “big picture” together in order to accomplish this.
