After having reaped dividends from its ‘Digital Village’ initiative in the Lok Sabha polls, the Narendra Modi Government in its second term is all set to scale up the project with renewed focus on expanding the reach of its social schemes.
Pilot schemes of NDA-1 like Ayushmaan Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PMSYM) Yojana besides those related to financial services, basic healthcare and skill development in rural India will be provided through the concept of digital India process, official sources said.
Of the 303 Lok Sabha seats which BJP won, 274 constituencies are those where the Centre pushed its Digital Village scheme providing access to information, knowledge and skill to the citizen using various components of Digital India initiative. From making Government services available to villagers on their doorsteps to creating young rural entrepreneurs, Digital Villages have become agent of change in rural India, they said.
“Apart from States like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar, BJP’s performance in States like West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir and Northeastern States has been remarkable,” said an official of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), who has been actively monitoring Digital Village scheme implemented by — Common Service Centre (CSC) — a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created by Centre. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had himself monitored implementation of Digital Village scheme.
MEITY sources said Ministry officials have been sounded to prepare a detailed roadmap to take Digital Village scheme to next level. The Modi Government is keen to replicate the success of Digital Village scheme in remaining villages across India. Today the scheme is being implemented in 700 villages, one in every district across India.
“The initial impact of Digital Village initiative has been huge. We are providing banking, education, healthcare, skill training digitally at CSCs. We believe that CSC can contribute in a substantial way to the Digital India program by helping extend its reach into rural and remote corners of the country. We are uniquely positioned to take forward the task of making digital technology extend to villages,” said CSC CEO Dr Dinesh Tyagi. He claimed that CSC can get one lakh villages transformed into Digital Villages within one year which would require support from all Ministries of the Government.
