The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

E-governance initiatives in India took a broader dimension in the mid 1990s for wider sectoral applications with emphasis on citizen-centric services. The major ICT initiatives of the Government included, inter alia, some major projects such as railway computerization, land record computerization, etc. which focused mainly on the development of information systems. Later on, many states started ambitious individual e-governance projects aimed at providing electronic services to citizens.

Though these e-governance projects were citizen-centric, they could make less than the desired impact due to their limited features. The isolated and less interactive systems revealed major gaps that were thwarting the successful adoption of e-governance along the entire spectrum of governance. They clearly pointed towards the need for a more comprehensive planning and implementation for the infrastructure required to be put in place, interoperability issues to be addressed, etc. to establish a more connected government.

The vision of Digital India programme is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.Focus of the Rs 1.13 lakh crore (appx. US$ 17 billion) initiative is on using technology to create a participative, transparent and responsive government.

Digital India programme seeks to ensure that Government services are made available to citizens electronically by improving online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity. Amongst others, it seeks to provide :

• Plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet network, mobile phone and bank account enabling participation in digital & financial space; shareable private space on a public cloud, and creating a safe and secure cyber space.
• Broadband in 2.5 lakh villages, universal phone connectivity, 400,000 Public Internet Access Points, Wi-fi in 2.5 lakh schools, all universities; Public wi-fi hotspots for citizens, Digital Inclusion: 1.7 crore trained for IT, Telecom and Electronics Jobs, Job creation : e-Governance & eServices; across government India to be leader in IT use in services – health, education, banking Digitally empowered citizens – public cloud, internet access.
• Seamless integration across departments/jurisdictions
• Ensuring availability of services in real time from online and mobile platforms for ease of doing business, leveraging geographical information systems (GIS) etc.
• Take digital literacy to the next level
• Providing digital resources in Indian languages, citizens not required to submit physical documents, etc.

For more details, see http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/