Digitisation In India

The digitisation initiative taken by the Government of India in July 2015 was a big step
aimed at the progress of the country. The initiative was directed at providing digital empowerment
and increased internet availability throughout the nation. The broad objectives of development of
digital infrastructure, digital delivery of government services and universal digital literacy were
carried out through different schemes.

Digitisation promotes the urban-rural connect and to make this transition smooth, training and
education on the same were essential. This also meant requirement of involvement of the labour
included in technical education of the same and similarly the infrastructure growth which leads to
huge employment opportunities and infrastructure generation. Start-ups and new ventures in the
same direction also benefitted from involving in service providing for digitisation execution. Equal
opportunities for all to these digital infrastructures is another notable advantage.

However small industries and vendors were initially affected severely by demonetisation which was
a successor of the digital India activities, owing to the illiteracy and incompetency of the people
involved. On the positive side of this, it can be noted that even roadside stalls and pushcarts selling
perishables are equipped with UPI payments and are digitally keeping up with the changing society.
Even though demonetisation had a negative impact on the economy and couldn’t live up to the
expectations, it had resulted in rapid digitisation of the economy and is a major step in the journey
to a cashless economy. There had been concerns of the data acquisition and possible misuse of it,
but the government efforts at ensuring data localisation has made it more secure. Efforts aimed at
boosting the security and hence the confidence of the stakeholders involved are continuously being
employed by the government. The reluctance and fear of the common man to handle monetary
transactions online can be eradicated only through the combined efforts of subject education and a
failproof management system.

The digitisation of the government services had made work at administrative bodies more secure
and hassle free. Apart from faster and consumer friendly processing, transparency and availability of
these facilities have also been immensely enhanced by digitisation. Digitising of the same has also
contributed by being a greener solution as the paperwork and storage of innumerable documents
involved in all these processes have been replaced with online solutions. In a country where we are
in deficit of 1.5 million doctors, digitisation of healthcare can provide online access to the digitally
empowered population and take some load off healthcare facilities. E-commerce has also benefitted
from digitisation with more population availing it. Digital transformation facilitates easy flow of
information, effective planning and management of processes in MSMEs.

The areas which require attention are remote rural population that lack the infrastructure and the
awareness for accessing the digital segment. Focussed development and upliftment of these
inaccessible sections of the population must be prioritized to ensure the digital empowerment of the
whole nation and achievement of the multifaceted goal.