The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for Digital India, an ambitious programme mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The Cabinet meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister.
The Cabinet also approved the over `8,600-crore Nagpur Metro Rail Project and the long-pending proposal to install mobile towers at 2,199 locations in Naxal-hit districts by BSNl, at a cost of `3,216-crore to be borne by the Government.
The vision of Digital India aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The programme will be implemented in phases from the current year till 2018. Digital India is transformational in nature and would ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically.
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-based interoperable and integrated Government applications and data basis.
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 individual project(s) for Digital India will be worked out by respective nodal Ministries/ Departments.
Outlining the vision areas of Digital India, a Government release said high-speed internet as a core utility shall be made available in all Gram Panchayats. It would also provide a cradle-to-grave digital identity — unique, lifelong, online and authenticable. A mobile phone and bank account would enable participation in digital and financial space at individual level and provide easy access to a Common Service Centre within the locality.
The programme envisages providing safe and secure cyber-space in the country and Governance and Services on Demand. This will also provide seamless integration across departments or jurisdictions to provide easy and a single window access to all.
The implementation of Digital India programme will make Government services available in real time from online and mobile platforms and make financial transactions above a threshold, electronic and cashless.
As part of Digital Empowerment of Citizens, the programme will provide universal digital literacy and make digital resources universally accessible. All Government documents/certificates will be available on the `Cloud’ and provide for the availability of digital resources/services in Indian languages.
The overall scope of this programme is to prepare India for a knowledge future and making technology central to enabling change.
The programme weaves together 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. Each individual element stands on its own, but is also part of the larger picture. The weaving together makes the mission transformative in totality.
The Digital India Programme will pull together many existing schemes which would be restructured and re-focused and implemented in a synchronized manner. The common branding of the programmes as Digital India highlights their transformative impact.
Digital India aims to provide the much-needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth, 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 and IT for jobs
The existing/ongoing e-Governance initiatives would be revamped to align them with the principles of Digital India. Scope enhancement, process reengineering, use of integrated and interoperable systems and deployment of emerging technologies like Cloud & mobile would be undertaken to enhance delivery of Government services to citizens.
States would be given the flexibility to identify and include additional State-specific projects relevant to their socio-economic needs. e-Governance would be promoted through a centralised initiative to the extent necessary, to ensure citizen centric service orientation.
Successes would be identified and their replication promoted proactively. Public Private Partnerships would be preferred wherever feasible. Adoption of Unique ID would be promoted to facilitate identification, authentication and delivery of benefits.
Restructuring of NIC would be undertaken to strengthen IT support to all Government departments at the Centre and State levels.
The positions of Chief Information Officers would be created in at least ten key ministries so that various e-Governance projects could be designed, developed and implemented faster. Besides, the Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) would create necessary senior positions within the department for managing the programme.
Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments would have the overall responsibility for implementation of various Mission Mode and other projects under this programme.