The Digital India Programme is a pioneer flagship initiative taken by the Government of India. The program is aimed at transforming India into a digitally empowered nation in terms of society, geography, economy and overall development.
The initiatives with respect to E-governance set ablaze in India during the mid-1990s which were aimed at wider sectoral applications which were emphasized on providing digital services to the Indian citizens. The major initiatives were taken by the Government with respect to the ICT include some of the major areas of development and projects like the Indian Railways, Airport Authority of India, computerization of the government offices and the overall development of the landscape of the country in terms of digital movement.
The pivotal role that has been focused on by the Digital India initiative of the Indian Government includes the overall development of the information system. As time has advanced, several state governments have joined in their hands in the innovative approach to providing digital services to the common man and in improving the overall condition of living and sustainability in India.
e-Kranti: National e-Governance Plan 2.0:
The national e-Governance plan which was given the name as “e-Kranti” was initiated in 2006. Under this project, there were as many as 31 Mission Mode Projects which were under the National e-Governance plan of Indian Government. The plan was focused on covering a wide range of domains in the country including the railways, agriculture, industries, health, education, land records, police, passports, commercial taxes, municipalities, courts, treasuries and much more. As many as 24 projects under the Mission Mode Project of this plan have been executed and have also started delivering the required results in terms of services to the citizens of India.
Vision and Areas of the Digital India Initiative:
Vision: The vision of the Digital India Plan by the Indian Government is to transform India into a digitally empowered country and economy. The initiative has three vision areas:
- Development of the digital infrastructure as a core utility to all the citizens of India.
- Providing governance and services on demand to the common people.
- Digital empowerment of the country and the citizens of India.
Approach by the Government Towards Digital India:
There are different approaches and different methodologies adopted by the Indian Government for the successful implementation of the Digital India Programme. Some of these are:
- The ministries, state governments, and various departments of the Indian Government would provide full support towards the Common and ICT infrastructure.
- The existing or the ongoing initiatives of the e-Governance should be revamped in a suitable manner such that all of them align with the policies of the Digital India initiative.
- The state governments of India would be provided full flexibility to make identifications of the state-specific projects with respect to Digital India and might be necessary for the socio-economic development of the state.
- E-Governance would be promoted through a centralized initiative to ensure the provision of the services to the citizens of India.