Question

Paragraph on pradhan mantri gramin digital saksharta abhiyan

Answer 1

pected to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019, making it one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world

Answer 2

The union cabinet has approved Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural household digitally literate. According to Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) survey, if mobile penetration increases by 10% then the GDP would increase by 1.2%. If broadband connection increases by 10% then the increase in the GDP would by be 2.7%. If all the government services are provided through mobile phones then the GDP would increase by 3.2%.So this is a very ambitious scheme announced by the government but what needs to be done is the infrastructure has to be greatly improved to bring optical fibre to each Gram panchayat and have last mile connectivity through wireless broadband connectivity to people’s smart phones. The outlay for this project is Rs.2,351.38 crore to usher in digital literacy in rural India by March, 2019.Digitally literate persons would be able to operate computers/digital access devices (like tablets, smart phones, etc.), send and receive emails, browse internet, access Government Services, search for information, undertaking cashless transactions, etc. and hence use IT to actively participate in the process of nation building. 

Concerns / Challenges

At present India’s infrastructure is not at the stage at which we can reap the benefits of the Information and Communication Technology. According to World Economic Forum’s Annual Network Readiness Indexwhich assess the information and the communication capability of 140 nations, in 2013 India was at 68thposition but in 2016 India has slipped to 91st We need to step up our efforts to bring in optical fibre connectivity to each gram panchayat and also increase the 4G coverage in all villages. Regional language content has been developed in the government records in a user friendly manner.The major problem in the digital transactions is the security and the privacy. People need to be trained on how to protect their financial information.The authentication solely based on biometrics as in Aadhaar Enabled Payment System(AEPS) is insecure and there is lot of scope for cyber crime. Well educated people and technically sound people are also falling prey to the cyber criminals. It will be very difficult for the rural masses who have to first understand the technologies and procedure to keep their information secure.