AN INITIATIVE OF SHIVNANDANI INDUSTRIES PVT LTD AND JAGDAMB JANAKI NAWAL JANAKI
SOCIETY
Digital India
CompiledbyCol Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd), MTech,CE(I),FIE(I),FIETE,FISLE,FInstOD,AMCSI
Contact -9007224278, e-mail –muktesh_prasad@yahoo.co.in
for book ”DecodingServicesSelectionBoard” and SSB guidance and training at Shivnandani Edu and
Defence Academy
9/28/2015

Digital India
Digital Technologies which include Cloud Computing and Mobile Applications have emerged as
catalysts for rapid economic growth and citizen empowerment across the globe. Digital
technologies are being increasingly used by us in everyday lives from retail stores to government
offices. They help us to connect with each other and also to share information on issues and
concerns faced by us. In some cases they also enable resolution of those issues in near real time.
The objective of the Digital India Group is to come out with innovative ideas and practical
solutions to realise Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a digital India. Prime
Minister Modi envisions transforming our nation and creating opportunities for all citizens by
harnessing digital technologies. His vision is to empower every citizen with access to digital
services, knowledge and information.
Movingaheadon yetanotherpetproject,Prime MinisterNarendraModi launchedthe 'Digital India'
campaignon 01 Jul 2015 alongwithDigital Indiaweek,aimedatcreatinga digitallyempoweredsociety
and knowledgeeconomy.
The programme comprisesof variousinitiatives,eachtargetedtoprepare Indiaforbecominga
knowledge economyandforbringinggoodgovernance tocitizensthroughsynchronizedandco-
ordinatedengagementof the entire government.
The visionof Digital Indiaprogramme alsoaimsatinclusive growthinareasof electronicservices,
products,manufacturingandjobopportunitiesetc.The visionof Digital Indiaiscentredonthree key
areas -

(i) Digital Infrastructure asautilitytoeverycitizen
(ii) Governance &servicesondemand
(iii) Digital Empowermentof citizens
The Digital Indiaprogramme aimstoprovide broadbandhighways,universal accesstomobile
connectivity,publicinternetaccessprogramme,e-governance:Reforminggovernmentthrough
technology,eKranti - Electronicdeliveryof services,Informationforall,Electronicsmanufacturing:
Target netzeroimports,IT forjobsand earlyharvestprogrammes.
In line withthese objectives,the governmenthaslaunchedsome inititaives.Othersare beingreadied
for launch.We take a lookat some of
1.Digital LockerSystemaimstominimize the usage of physical documentsandenable sharingof e-
documentsacrossagencies.The sharingof the e-documentswillbe done throughregistered
repositoriestherebyensuringthe authenticityof the documentsonline,saysthe government.
2. MyGov.inhas beenimplementedasaplatformforcitizenengagementingovernance,througha
"Discuss","Do"and "Disseminate"approach.The mobileappforMyGov wouldbringthese featuresto
userson a mobile phone.
3. Swachh Bharat Mission(SBM) Mobile appwouldbe usedbypeople andGovernmentorganizations
for achievingthe goalsof SwachhBharatMission.
4. eSignframeworkwouldallowcitizenstodigitallysignadocumentonlineusingAadhaar
authentication.5.The Online RegistrationSystem(ORS)underthe eHospital applicationhasbeen
introduced.Thisapplicationprovidesimportantservices suchasonline registration,paymentof feesand
appointment,onlinediagnosticreports,enquiringavailabilityof bloodonline etc,the government
claims.
6. National ScholarshipsPortal issaidtobe a one stop solutionforendtoendscholarshipprocessright
fromsubmissionof studentapplication, verification,sanctionanddisbursal toendbeneficiaryforall the
scholarshipsprovidedbythe Governmentof India.
7. DeitY hasundertakenaninitiativenamelyDigitize IndiaPlatform(DIP) forlarge scale digitizationof
recordsin the countrythat wouldfacilitate efficientdeliveryof servicestothe citizens.
8. The Governmentof Indiahasundertakenaninitiative namelyBharatNet,ahighspeeddigital highway
to connectall 2.5 lakhGram Panchayats of country.Thiswouldbe the world'slargestrural broadband
connectivityprojectusingoptical fibre.

9. Policyinitiativeshave alsobeenundertakenbyDeitYinthe e-Governance domainlike e-Kranti
Framework,PolicyonAdoptionof OpenSource Software forGovernmentof India,Frameworkfor
Adoptionof OpenSource Software ine-Governance Systems,PolicyonOpenApplicationProgramming
Interfaces(APIs) forGovernmentof India,E-mailPolicyof Governmentof India,PolicyonUse of IT
Resourcesof Governmentof India,PolicyonCollaborative ApplicationDevelopmentbyOpeningthe
Source Code of GovernmentApplications,ApplicationDevelopment&Re-EngineeringGuidelinesfor
CloudReadyApplications
10. BSNL hasintroducedNextGenerationNetwork(NGN), toreplace 30 yearoldexchanges,whichisan
IP basedtechnologytomanage all typesof serviceslike voice,data,multimedia/videoandothertypes
of packetswitchedcommunicationservices.
11. BSNL hasundertakenlarge scale deploymentof Wi-Fi hotspotsthroughoutthe country.The usercan
latch onthe BSNLWi-Fi networkthroughtheirmobiledevices.
12. BPOPolicyhas beenapprovedtocreate BPOcentresindifferentNorthEasternstatesandalsoin
smaller/mofussil townsof otherstates.
13. ElectronicsDevelopmentFund(EDF) Policyaimstopromote Innovation,R&D,andProduct
Developmentandtocreate a resource pool of IP withinthe countrytocreate a self-sustainingeco-
systemof Venture Funds.
14. National Centre forFlexible Electronics(NCFlexE) isaninitiativeof Governmentof Indiatopromote
researchand innovationinthe emergingareaof FlexibleElectronics.
15. Centre of Excellence onInternetonThings(IoT) isajointinitiativeof Departmentof Electronics&
InformationTechnology (DeitY),ERNETandNASSCOM.
"The estimatedimpactof Digital Indiaby2019 wouldbe cross cutting,rangingfrombroadband
connectivityinall Panchayats,Wi-fi inschoolsanduniversitiesandPublicWi-Fihotspots.The
programme will generatehuge number of IT,TelecomandElectronicsjobs,bothdirectlyandindirectly.
Successof this programme will make IndiaDigitallyempoweredandthe leaderinusage of
IT in deliveryof servicesrelatedtovariousdomainssuchashealth,education,agriculture,banking,etc,"
the governmentclaims. INTRODUCTION
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.
e-Kranti : National e-Governance Plan 2.0
The national level e-Governance programme called National e-Governance Plan was
initiaited in 2006. There were 31 Mission Mode Projects under National e-Governance
Plan covering a wide range of domains, viz. agriculture, land records, health, education,
passports, police, courts, municipalities, commercial taxes, treasuries etc. 24 Mission
Mode Projects have been implemented and started delivering either full or partial range
of envisaged services.
Considering the shortcomings in National e-Governance Plan that included lack of
integration amongst Government applications and databases, low degree of
government process reengineering, scope for leveraging emerging technologies like
mobile, cloud…etc, Government of India has approved the e-Kranti programme recently
with the vision of “Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance”.
All new and on-going eGovernance projects as well as the existing projects, which are
being revamped, should now follow the key principles of e-Kranti namely
‘Transformation and not Translation’, ‘Integrated Services and not Individual Services’,
‘Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory in every MMP’, ‘ICT
Infrastructure on Demand’, ‘Cloud by Default’, ‘Mobile First’, ‘Fast Tracking Approvals’,
‘Mandating Standards and Protocols’, ‘Language Localization’, ‘National GIS (Geo-
Spatial Information System)’, ‘Security and Electronic Data Preservation’.
The portfolio of Mission Mode Projects has increased from 31 to 44 MMPs. Many new
social sector projects namely Women and Child Development, Social Benefits, Financial
Inclusion, Urban Governance, eBhasha…etc have been added as new MMPs under e-
Kranti.

Vision of Digital India
The vision of Digital India programme is to transform India into a digitally
empowered society and knowledge economy.
Vision Areas of Digital India
The Digital India programme is centred on three key vision areas:
Digital Infrastructure as a Core Utility to Every Citizen
Governance and Services on Demand
Digital Empowerment of Citizens
Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen
 Availability of high speed internet as a core utility for delivery of services to citizens
 Cradle to grave digital identity that is unique, lifelong, online and authenticable to every citizen
 Mobile phone & bank account enabling citizen participation in digital & financial space
 Easy access to a Common Service Centre
 Shareable private space on a public cloud
 Safe and secure cyber-space
Governance & Services on Demand
 Seamlessly integrated services across departments or jurisdictions
 Availability of services in real time from online & mobile platforms
 All citizen entitlements to be portable and available on the cloud
 Digitally transformed services for improving ease of doing business
 Making financial transactions electronic & cashless
 Leveraging Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) for decision support systems & development
Digital Empowerment of Citizens
 Universal digital literacy

 Universally accessible digital resources
 Availability of digital resources / services in Indian languages
 Collaborative digital platforms for participative governance
 Citizens not required to physically submit Govt. documents / certificates
Vision Area 1: Digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen
Focus Area Intended Outcome
Broadband for rural areas Coverage for 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) by
2016-17
Broadband for urban areas Virtual Network Operators for service delivery;
Mandatory communication infrastructure in new
urban settlements and buildings
National Information
Infrastructure
Integration of all core ICT infrastructure built under
National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) for greater
efficiency and synergy;
Nationwide coverage by March 2017
Universal access to mobile
connectivity
Greater network penetration;
Coverage for 55,619 uncovered villages by 2018
Public Internet Access Programme
under National Rural Internet
Mission
Coverage for 2,50,000 GPs by 2016-17 through
Common Services Centers (CSCs);
Recasting of 1,50,000 post offices as multi-service
centres by 2015-16
What is in it for the citizens?
Current scenario for a villager without easy access to a CSC
 Inadequate access to government services and internet.
Changed scenario

 Internet connectivity is available through the CSC.
 The neighbourhood CSC is a convenient and friendly place to know and avail G2C services,
banking services (including loans) and also to learn about suitable agricultural practices.
 Several B2C services are available too in the CSC.
 Family members can learn computer skills at the CSC and also undergo vocational trainings
for better family income.
Digital Locker to Citizens – A Game Changer
Current Scenario:
 Citizens need to submit paper documents to avail government services.
How Digital India initiative will impact:
 Government of India would provide a digital private space, i.e. Digital Locker, to every citizen.
 The ‘Digital Locker’ would enable citizens to securely store all their important documents and
credential.
 The electronic documents can be shared with public agencies or others without the need to
physically submit them.
 Such a ‘digital locker’ will greatly improve citizen convenience and usher in paperless
transactions across the entire ecosystem of public services.
 In a situation of disaster, e.g. flood, storm, fire, etc, when citizens may loose paper
documents, documents in the digital repository would be accessible for them anytime,
anywhere to avail government or private services.
Vision Area 2: Governance and services on demand
Changing the Life of Citizens through Internet & Mobile connectivity
Current scenario:
 Difficulty in availing government services due to lack of internet connectivity.
Changed scenario:
 Use of mobile phone or laptop would help in checking the status of entitlements, bank
account details, etc.
 Access to internet and focus on digital literacy will also help citizens aspire for better jobs and
improved quality of life.
 Text books will be available in the form of e-books which can be downloaded on laptops.
 Citizens may avail government and private services from home by accessing the software
applications through internet.

 The e-Biz project provides integrated services across various central and state departments/
agencies through a single window mechanism to all businesses and investors for setting up a
commercial enterprise.
 The ‘MCA21’ MMP aims at providing electronic services for statutory requirements and other
business related services.
 The e-Trade MMP facilitates foreign trade in India by promoting effective and efficient delivery of
services by various regulatory/ facilitating agencies involved in foreign trade, to enable traders
to avail online services from these agencies.
Vision Area 3: Digital empowerment of citizens
UniversallyAccessible Digital Resources:Making government documents accessible to
citizens anytime, anywhere!
Current scenario:
 Government documents are not easily accessible.
Changed scenario:
 Citizen related documents would be available electronically.
 Government departments may access the documents issued by collateral government
agencies.
 Documents issued to the citizens would be available to them anywhere anytime, in a
standard format which can be shared with an authorized entity.
 The documents may be available in local language as well.
 Documents would be accessible to citizens through web portals and mobile applications.
Approach and Methodology for Digital India Programme are:
1. Ministries / Departments / States would fully leverage the Common and Support ICT
Infrastructure established by GoI. DeitY would also evolve/ lay down standards and policy
guidelines, provide technical and handholding support, undertake capacity building, R&D,
etc.
2. The existing/ ongoing e-Governance initiatives would be suitably revamped to align them
with the principles of Digital India. Scope enhancement, Process Reengineering, use of
integrated & interoperable systems and deployment of emerging technologies like cloud &
mobile would be undertaken to enhance the delivery of Government services to citizens.
3. States would be given flexibility to identify for inclusion additional state-specific projects,
which are relevant for their socio-economic needs.

4. e-Governance would be promoted through a centralised initiative to the extent necessary,
to ensure citizen centric service orientation, interoperability of various e-Governance
applications and optimal utilisation of ICT infrastructure/ resources, while adopting a
decentralised implementation model.
5. Successes would be identified and their replication promoted proactively with the required
productization and customisation wherever needed.
6. Public Private Partnerships would be preferred wherever feasible to implement e-
Governance projects with adequate management and strategic control.
7. Adoption of Unique ID would be promoted to facilitate identification, authentication and
delivery of benefits.
8. Restructuring of NIC would be undertaken to strengthen the IT support to all government
departments at Centre and State levels.
9. The positions of Chief Information Officers (CIO) would be created in at least 10 key
Ministries so that various e-Governance projects could be designed, developed and
implemented faster. CIO positions will be at Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary level with
over-riding powers on IT in the respective Ministry.
Programme Management Structure for Digital India Programme
The Programme management structure for the Digital India prorgamme as endorsed by the
Union Cabinet is as follow:
1. For effective management of the Digital India programme, the programme management
structure would consists of a Monitoring Committee on Digital India headed by the Prime
Minister, a Digital India Advisory Group chaired by the Minister of Communications and IT
and an Apex Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. The structure has the needed
secretarial/ monitoring/ technical support and appropriate decentralization of power and
responsibility to ensure effective execution of the various projects/ components by the
implementing departments/ teams.
2. Key components of the Programme Management structure would be as follows:
a. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for programme level policy
decisions.
b. A Monitoring Committee on Digital India under the Chairpersonship of Prime
Minister which will be constituted with representation drawn from relevant Ministries/

Departments to provide leadership, prescribe deliverables and milestones, and monitor
periodically the implementation of the Digital India Programme.
c. A Digital India Advisory Group headed by the Minister of Communications and IT
to solicit views of external stakeholders and to provide inputs to the Monitoring
Committee on Digital India, advise the Government on policy issues and strategic
interventions necessary for accelerating the implementation of the Digital India
Programme across Central and State Government Ministries/Departments. The
composition of the Advisory Group would include representation from the Planning
Commission and 8 to 9 representatives from States/UTs and other Line
Ministries/Departments on a rotational basis.
d. An Apex Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary would be overseeing the
programme and providing policy and strategic directions for its implementation and
resolving inter-ministerial issues. In addition it would harmonize and integrate diverse
initiatives and aspects related to integration of services, end to end process re-
engineering and service levels of MMPs and other initiatives under the Digital India
Programme, wherever required.
e. Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC)/Committee on Non Plan Expenditure (CNE)
to financially appraise/ approve projects as per existing delegation of financial powers.
The EFC/ CNE headed by Secretary Expenditure would also be recommending to the
CCEA the manner in which MMPs/ eGovernance initiatives are to be implemented, as
well as the financial terms of participation for States. A representative of the Planning
Commission would also be included in both the EFC and CNE.
f. A Council of Mission Leaders on Digital India headed by Secretary, DeitY would be
established as a platform to share the best practices in various existing and new eGov
initiatives under Digital India and also to sensitize various government departments
about ICT projects of DeitY. While the inter-departmental, integration and interoperable
issues of integrated projects / eGovernance initiatives would be resolved by the Apex
Committee on Digital India headed by Cabinet Secretary, the technical issues of
integrated projects would be resolved by the Council of Mission Leaders.
g. Further, considering the scope of the Digital India Programme and the need to look at
issues such as overall technology architecture, framework, standards, security policy,
funding strategy, service delivery mechanism, sharing of common infrastructure etc. at a
programme level, it is proposed that the technical appraisal of all Digital India projects be
done by DeitY, prior to a project being placed before the EFC/ CNE. This appraisal

would cover issues relating to inclusion of adoption of Standards, utilization of Cloud and
mobile platforms, consideration of security aspects, etc. The Secretary, DeitY or his
representative may also be included as a standing special invitee to all EFC/CNE
meetings, which are appraising/approving MMPs. It may be mentioned that the DeitY
has already set up a Programme Management Unit, namely National eGovernance
Division (NeGD) to provide support to departments in conceptualizing, developing,
appraising, implementing and monitoring respective MMPs / eGovernance Initiatives.
h. Institutional mechanism of Digital India at State level would be headed by State
Committee on Digital India by the Chief Minister. State/UT Apex Committees on
Digital India headed by Chief Secretaries would be constituted at State/UT level to
allocate required resources, set priority amongst projects and resolve inter-departmental
issues at State level.
3. For effective monitoring of Digital India, usage of Project Management Information System
would be mandatory in each new and existing Mission Mode Projects to capture the real or
near real time details about the progress of the project. This tool should be proficient
enough to capture the parameters for each stage of project namely, conceptualization and
development, implementation and post implementation. The parameters could be decided
in consultation with various line Ministries / Departments and DeitY.
4. Since the “e-Kranti: National eGovernance Plan 2.0” is already integrated with Digital India
Programme, the existing programme management structure established for National
eGovernance Plan at both national and state level has also been decided to be integrated
appropriately with the programme management structure being envisaged for Digital India
Programme at national and State/UT level.
Institutional Mechanism at National Level

Current Status
The Apex Committee on the Digital India programme headed by the Cabinet Secretary and the
Digital India Advisory Group chaired by the Minister of Communications and Information
Techology has been constituted.
The first meeting of the Apex Committee on the Digital India programme was held on
26.11.2014. The second meeting of the Apex Committee on the Digital India programme was
held on 09.02.2015. The actions on decisons made by the Apex Committee are being worked
out.
Industry hails 'Digital India' move, top CEOs commit to invest Rs 4.5 trillion
India's top industrialists including Cyrus Mistry, Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Kumar
Mangalam Birla and Sunil Bharti Mittal applauded the government's Rs 1.13-lakh-crore Digital
India programme, saying it had the potential to bridge the digital divide and benefit billions of
people through digital solutions in education, healthcare and irrigation sectors.
At the unveiling of the Digital India Week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's top
billionaires pledged around Rs
4.5 lakh crore to projects related to Digital India, which could generate employments for some
18 lakh people. "Digital India will help India to create a knowledgeable society and will provide
government services within a short time," said Cyrus Mistry, chairman of Tata Sons.

He said Tata Consultancy Services, which is majority owned by the Tata Group, has been an
active contributor to e-governance programmes and the company will hire 60,000 IT
professionals this year.
Reliance IndustriesBSE 0.92 % Chairman Mukesh Ambani said his company would invest Rs 2.5
lakh crore across different Digital India heads, which have the potential to create employment
for over five lakh people. "Normally, industry moves faster than government but with Digital
India it is different. I have no hesitation in saying that government has moved faster," he said.
He also announced setting up of the 'Jio Digital India Start Up Fund' to encourage young
entrepreneurs who are setting up who are setting up businesses focused around the Digital
India initiative.
The Rs 1.13-lakh-crore Digital India project is aimed at broadening digital access for all Indians
and making sure that government functions and services are available online to citizens.
"I dream of Digital India where 1.2 billion connected Indians drive the nation," said the Prime
Minister at the launch of the Digital India Week, which will take technology to the villages and
block levels over the course of the next week.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, which owns telecom company Idea
CellularBSE 1.29 %, said it would leverage its network of 165 million subscribers across 350,000
towns and villages in India to provide mobile-based healthcare and education services as well
as weather forecasting advisories and 'mandi' prices to over one million farmers.
The company will also launch a mobile wallet and payment bank as well as invest over $2 billion
in the next five years in areas such as electronic manufacturing, energy storage, Internet of
Things and development of smart cities.
"We are launching a new initiative to partner with and mentor entrepreneurs to commercialise
their digitally-enabled product or service. This will provide an opportunity over the next five
years to more than 10,000 entrepreneurs, potentially creating over a million new jobs," said
Birla.