Digital India

Why in news?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with beneficiaries of the Digital India programme, as the flagship initiative of the government completed six years.

About the mission:

• Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in order to ensure the Government's services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology.
• The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks.
• It consists of three core components:
  • The development of secure and stable digital infrastructure
  • Delivering government services digitally
  • Universal digital literacy
• The Government of India's entity Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) which executes the BharatNet project is the custodian of the Digital India (DI) project.

Some initiatives undertaken to achieve Digital India:

• UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance): It is a Government of India all-in-one single unified secure multi-channel multi-platform multi-lingual multi-service freeware mobile app for accessing over 1,200 central and state government services in multiple Indian languages over Android, iOS, Windows and USSD (feature phone) devices, including services such as AADHAAR, DigiLocker, Bharat Bill Payment System and PAN.
• Digital attendance to keep a record of the attendance of Government employees.
• e-Sampark Vernacular email service
• Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan.

Prelims Question

Consider the following statements regarding Digital India Mission
1.NITI aayog is the custodian of the project.
2.It aims to achieve net zero imports in electronics goods in India.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to the Prelims Question