Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The future of Digital India mission appears dim&#039;,
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot; title=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The future of Digital India mission appears dim&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$articleid = (int) 29013
$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | The future of Digital India mission appears dim&#039;
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot; title=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>The future of Digital India mission appears dim</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.<br /><br />In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. <br /><br />Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. <br /><br />If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.<br /><br />However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.<br /><br />In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). <br /><br />Similarly, a website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. <br /><br />Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />However, data accessed from the website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. <br /><br />As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx" title="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx">click here</a> to access ITU&rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. <br /><br />The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.<br /><br />It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. <br /><br /><strong><em>References <br /></em></strong><br />71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India website, please <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/" title="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">click here</a> to access <br /><br />What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please <a href="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf" title="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please <a href="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf" title="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf" title="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf">click here</a> to access<br /><br />The Internet in &quot;Digital India&quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please <a href="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm" title="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/" title="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html">click here</a> to access <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The future of Digital India mission appears dim&#039;,
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot; title=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 29013,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The future of Digital India mission appears dim&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot; title=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>The future of Digital India mission appears dim</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.<br /><br />In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. <br /><br />Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. <br /><br />If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.<br /><br />However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.<br /><br />In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). <br /><br />Similarly, a website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. <br /><br />Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />However, data accessed from the website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. <br /><br />As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx" title="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx">click here</a> to access ITU&rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. <br /><br />The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.<br /><br />It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. <br /><br /><strong><em>References <br /></em></strong><br />71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India website, please <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/" title="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">click here</a> to access <br /><br />What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please <a href="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf" title="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please <a href="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf" title="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf" title="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf">click here</a> to access<br /><br />The Internet in &quot;Digital India&quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please <a href="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm" title="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/" title="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html">click here</a> to access <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot; title=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;The future of Digital India mission appears dim&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$articleid = (int) 29013
$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | The future of Digital India mission appears dim&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Internet Penetration,internet,Digital Literacy,ICTs,Digital Freedom,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Access to ICTs,Access to Computers&#039;
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Similarly, a website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, data accessed from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot; title=&quot;http://www.internetworldstats.com&quot;&gt;www.internetworldstats.com&lt;/a&gt; says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot; title=&quot;http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access ITU&amp;rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp;amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp;amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India website, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Internet in &amp;quot;Digital India&amp;quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot; title=&quot;http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot; title=&quot;http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi&#039;s project, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot; title=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget and the &#039;Digital Divide&#039;: Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>The future of Digital India mission appears dim</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.<br /><br />In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. <br /><br />Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. <br /><br />If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.<br /><br />However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.<br /><br />In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). <br /><br />Similarly, a website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. <br /><br />Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />However, data accessed from the website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. <br /><br />As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx" title="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx">click here</a> to access ITU&rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. <br /><br />The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.<br /><br />It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. <br /><br /><strong><em>References <br /></em></strong><br />71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India website, please <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/" title="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">click here</a> to access <br /><br />What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please <a href="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf" title="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please <a href="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf" title="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf" title="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf">click here</a> to access<br /><br />The Internet in &quot;Digital India&quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please <a href="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm" title="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/" title="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html">click here</a> to access <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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<div align="justify">
The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.<br />
<br />
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. <br />
<br />
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. <br />
<br />
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.<br />
<br />
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.<br />
<br />
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). <br />
<br />
Similarly, a website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. <br />
<br />
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
<br />
However, data accessed from the website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. <br />
<br />
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx">click here</a> to access ITU&rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
<br />
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. <br />
<br />
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.<br />
<br />
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. <br />
<br />
<strong><em>References <br />
</em></strong><br />
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Digital India website, please <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please <a href="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please <a href="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
The Internet in &quot;Digital India&quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please <a href="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm">click here</a> to access<br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html">click here</a> to access <br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<strong>Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change</strong> <br />
</div>',
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	'metaTitle' => 'NEWS ALERTS | The future of Digital India mission appears dim',
	'metaKeywords' => 'Internet Penetration,internet,Digital Literacy,ICTs,Digital Freedom,Digital Divide,Access to Internet,Access to ICTs,Access to Computers',
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...',
	'disp' => '<br /><div align="justify">The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.<br /><br />In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. <br /><br />Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. <br /><br />If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.<br /><br />However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.<br /><br />In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). <br /><br />Similarly, a website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. <br /><br />Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />However, data accessed from the website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. <br /><br />As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx" title="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx">click here</a> to access ITU&rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. <br /><br />The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.<br /><br />It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. <br /><br /><strong><em>References <br /></em></strong><br />71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India website, please <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/" title="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">click here</a> to access <br /><br />What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please <a href="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf" title="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please <a href="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf" title="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf" title="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf">click here</a> to access<br /><br />The Internet in &quot;Digital India&quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please <a href="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm" title="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/" title="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html">click here</a> to access <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change</strong> <br /></div>',
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.<br />
<br />
In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. <br />
<br />
Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. <br />
<br />
If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.<br />
<br />
However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.<br />
<br />
In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). <br />
<br />
Similarly, a website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. <br />
<br />
Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
<br />
However, data accessed from the website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. <br />
<br />
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx">click here</a> to access ITU&rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
<br />
Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. <br />
<br />
The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.<br />
<br />
It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. <br />
<br />
<strong><em>References <br />
</em></strong><br />
71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Digital India website, please <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please <a href="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please <a href="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
The Internet in &quot;Digital India&quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please <a href="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm">click here</a> to access<br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html">click here</a> to access <br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<strong>Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change</strong> <br />
</div>',
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The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult...'
$disp = '<br /><div align="justify">The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished.<br /><br />In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. <br /><br />Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. <br /><br />If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers.<br /><br />However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country.<br /><br />In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). <br /><br />Similarly, a website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. <br /><br />Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />However, data accessed from the website <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com" title="http://www.internetworldstats.com">www.internetworldstats.com</a> says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. <br /><br />As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx" title="http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx">click here</a> to access ITU&rsquo;s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. <br /><br />The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued.<br /><br />It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT &amp; not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes &amp; activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. <br /><br /><strong><em>References <br /></em></strong><br />71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India website, please <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/" title="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">click here</a> to access <br /><br />What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please <a href="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf" title="https://negp.gov.in/pdfs/DigitalIndia.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please <a href="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf" title="http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf">click here</a> to access<br />&nbsp;<br />Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf" title="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-tele-tech-2015-noexp.pdf">click here</a> to access<br /><br />The Internet in &quot;Digital India&quot; -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please <a href="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm" title="http://macroscan.com/cur/jul15/cur24072015Digital_India.htm">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/" title="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/mission-impossible/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-01/news/64004371_1_digital-india-programme-swachh-bharat-mission-knowledge-economy">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/desperate-call-goes-out-to-delhi-sir-digital-india-not-reaching-us-ajay-shankar-4677060.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/can-digital-educate-india-maya-escueta-4676981.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india" title="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-26/news/59542005_1_internet-economy-internet-growth-google-india">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-and-the-039digital-divide039-old-wine-in-new-bottle-vipul-mudgal-4673611.html">click here</a> to access <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change</strong> <br /></div>'
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The future of Digital India mission appears dim

The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished. In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth population is computer illiterate. Recent data from the 71st round of National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that in India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent among urban households. If a majority of population is computer illiterate and do not have access to internet, then it is less likely for a substantial proportion of people to own computers. The NSS 71st round data confirms that in rural areas 94 percent households and in urban areas 71 percent households did not own computers. However, recent research findings and studies indicate rising trend of internet usage via mobiles and smart phones. Although the road ahead of Digital India mission seems to appear less thorny, there are differences in estimates provided by various studies on the number of users accessing internet in the country. In a 2014 report by the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), it has been said that 19 crore Indians use internet and in terms of number of users accessing internet services, India ranks third in the world after China (62 crore) and the United States (27.5 crore). The same report expects that by the end of 2018 the number of internet users in India would have crossed 58 crore (30 crore in urban areas and 28 crore in rural areas by 2018). Similarly, a website www.internetworldstats.com has estimated that the number of users consuming internet is growing fast. In the year 2000, the number of internet users was 50 lakhs, which increased to 24.3 crore in June, 2014. Recent media reports inform us that within 3 years (2010-2013), the number of users accessing the internet has increased by 10 crore.    However, data accessed from the website www.internetworldstats.com says that in comparison to China, Japan or the United States, internet penetration is confined to a small section of Indian population. Internet penetration in the United States is 86.9 percent, Japan 86.2 percent and China 47.4 percent whereas internet penetration in India is just 19.7 percent of the population. As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), headquartered at Geneva (Switzerland), the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 0.53 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014. In comparison to India, in China the percentage of individuals using the internet has increased from 1.78 percent in 2000 to 49.3 percent in 2014. (Please click here to access ITU’s data on percentage of individuals accessing the internet in various countries).    Experts argue that limited digital literacy is a major demand side constraint for accomplishing the Digital India mission. The demand for broadband is also determined by the affordability of devices, the cost of internet access, as well as the availability of useful programmes/ applications that cater to local needs in local languages. Without the availability of appropriate software, even affordability cannot push up demand, says Rahul Khullar, former chairman of TRAI in an article published in The Indian Express, dated 12 August, 2015. The supply side constraints include: a. The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is running behind schedule; b. Putting towers in urban areas has become difficult due to alleged health hazards from radiation; c. The availability of spectrum is a major obstacle; d. Inadequate IT infrastructure; e. Availability of financial resources has become difficult; and f. Institutional arrangements that promote bureaucratic red tapism has continued. It is worth noting that under the Digital India mission, the NDA government wants to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with broadband internet, which is supposed to create 1.7 crore direct jobs and 8.5 crore indirect jobs. The overall costs of Digital India is Rs. 100,000 crore in ongoing schemes (only DeitY, DOT & not including those in other line Ministries) and Rs. 13,000 crore for new schemes & activities. The mission also envisages universal digital literacy, which is essential to create demand for digital services. References 71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please click here to access   Digital India website, please click here to access What is Digital India?, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, please click here to access India@Digital Bharat: Creating a $200 billion internet economy, The Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), please click here to access   Digital India: Unleashing Prosperity, CII, Deloitte, Wipro and MITSOT, please click here to access The Internet in "Digital India" -CP Chandrasekhar, Macroscan.com, 24 July, 2015, please click here to access   Mission impossible: Digital India is not doable by 2019, The Indian Express, 12 August, 2015, please click here to access Digital India: 15 salient things to know about PM Narendra Modi's project, please click here to access Desperate call goes out to Delhi: Sir, Digital India not reaching us -Ajay Shankar, The Indian Express, 25 August, 2015, please click here to access Can Digital Educate India? -Maya Escueta, The Indian Express, 17 August, 2015, please click here to access Internet users in India to birth a $200-billion digital economy; challenges of connectivity and languages need to be cracked, The Economic Times, 26 February, 2015, please click here to access Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XLIX, No. 31, August 02, 2014, please click here to access     Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change