Lok Sabha Question No. 2788 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-08-02
Subject: Computing Ability
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: PARAYAMPARANBIL KUTTAPPAN BIJU

2788. DR. P.K. BIJU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  note  of  the  71 st Round  report  of  the  survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) as per which an estimated 8.8 per cent of the rural population has computing ability in the country and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (b) the measures taken/being taken by the Government to promote the digitization along with digital literacy in the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b) The Government has taken note of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) 71st  Round  Report  on  Social  Consumption  relating  to  education.  As  per  this  Report,  the percentage  of persons (age 14 years and above) who are able to operate  computer in rural India  was  8.8%  and  the  percentage  of  persons  (  age  14  years  and  above)  able  to  use computer for word processing/ typing in rural India was 7.8% in 2014.

## The initiatives taken by the Government to promote digital literacy throughout the country are as under:

-  The  Government  is  implementing  the  scheme  'National  Digital  Literacy  Mission (NDLM)'  which  aims  to    make    one  person  from  every  eligible  household  digitally literate  across  the  country  including  rural  India.  Under  Digital  India,  a  new  scheme entitled 'Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA)' was approved in December 2014 with a target  to  train  an  additional  42.50  lakh  candidates  in  digital  literacy  over  a period  of four  years  across the country including rural India. The total target of making 52.50 lakh  persons  digitally  literate  under  the  above  schemes  has  been  achieved  in December 2016, out of which around 42% candidates are from rural India.
-  In  February,  2017,  the  Government  has  approved  scheme  entitled  'Pradhan  Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan  (PMGDISHA)' which is aimed at ushering in digital literacy in rural India by covering 6 crore rural households (one person per household) by 31.03.2019. To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats would be expected to register an average of 200-300 candidates. Under the Scheme, more than 20 lakh candidates have been trained.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2788 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND   AUGUST, 2017

## COMPUTING ABILITY

## The steps taken by the Government to promote overall digitization of services are as under:

-  Government is promoting establishment of Common Services Centres (CSCs) through CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd., a Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC -SPV). One of  the  major  roles  of  CSC  is  to  provide  citizen  centric  services  in  electronic  mode (online)  including  Government-to-Citizens  (G2C)  and  Business-to-Citizens  (B2C) services in the locality of citizens. The CSCs also aim to provide individual access to internet to citizens in rural India where the ICT usage is very low. The ongoing CSC 2.0 Project under Digital India Programme aims to create a self sustaining network of 2.5 Lakh CSCs covering all Gram Panchayats (GPs), with at least one CSC at each Gram Panchayat. Till date 3,00,774 CSCs have been registered across the country, among  which,  1,96,922  CSCs  are  at  Gram  Panchayat  (GP)  level.  Out  of  the  total registered Common Services Centres, 2,61,071 CSCs are functioning and transacting for delivery of eServices; among which, 1,63,226 CSCs functioning are at GP level.
-  'Digital  Finance  for  Rural  India:  Creating  Awareness  and  Access  through  Common Service  Centres(CSCs)' under  the  Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyan  (DISHA)  has  been initiated  in  November  2016  for  conducting  awareness  sessions  on  digital  finance options available for rural citizens as well as enabling various mechanisms of digital financial services such as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data(USSD), Unified Payment  Interface  (UPI),  Cards/Point  of  Sales(PoS),  Aadhaar  Enabled  Payment System(AEPS) and eWallet etc. Under this initiative, more than 2 crore rural citizens and more than 27 lakh Merchants have been trained/enabled. Further, sensitization drives were carried out at 650 Districts and 5,735 Blocks throughout the country.
-  Aadhaar: To  give  statutory  backing  to  Aadhaar 'The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016' was notified on 26 th March, 2016. So far, 116.46 crore  Aadhaar have been generated.
-  Direct  Benefit  Transfers(DBT): The  Direct  Benefit  Transfer  is  being  provided  to citizens.  Till  date  314  schemes  of  51  Ministries/  Departments  are  there  on  DBT platform. An amount of more than Rs. 2.14 Lakh crore has been transferred through DBT.
-  Government  e-Market  Place  (GeM): To  facilitate  on  line  procurement  of  Goods  & Services required by various Government Departments/ Organizations/ PSUs, Government  e-Marketplace (GeM)  has been implemented. GeM  will enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
-  E-Office: It is a Digital Workplace Solution which aims to usher in efficient, effective and transparent inter-government and intra-government transactions and processes. As  on  date,  a  total  of  78  Central  Government  Ministries  /  Departments  have  been covered under e-Office.
-  Digital Locker: This system serves as a platform to enable citizens to securely store and  share  their  documents  with  service  providers  who  can  directly  access  them electronically. So far, over 76.81 lakh Digital Lockers have been opened. About 95.12 lakh documents have been self-uploaded and more than 187 crore documents have been issued.  Digital Locker Authority has been constituted and Digital Locker rules have been notified.
-  Open Govt. Data Platform: Open Government Data (OGD) Platform is a platform for supporting  Open  Data  initiative  of  Government  of  India.  It  intends  to  increase transparency in the functioning of Government and also open avenues for many more innovative  usages  of  Government  Data  to  give  different  perspective.  Presently, 1,02,038 resources under 4180 catalogs published by 105 Ministries/Departments (81 Central and 24 states).

-  eSign - Online Electronic Signature Service: eSign is an initiative for easy, efficient, and  secure  signing  of  electronic  documents  by  an  Aadhaar  holder.  Four  agencies namely eMudhra Ltd., C-DAC, (n)Code Solutions, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd have been empanelled to offer e-Sign Services. As on 31 st May, 2017, over 1.79 crore  eSign have been issued.
-  MyGov: MyGov  is  a  first-of-its-kind  citizen  engagement  platform  for  participatory governance  in  India.  MyGov    facilitates  a  dialogue  between  citizens  and Government,  bringing  citizens  closer  to  the  Government  and  vice  versa. Presently,  45.19  lakh  users  are  registered  with  MyGov,  participating  in  various activities hosted on MyGov platform. MyGov activities are structured under 61 groups consisting of 658 tasks, 727 discussions, 238 Polls/Surveys and 147 talks.
-  e-Hospital - Online Registration System (ORS): It includes online appointment and registration  by  new  patients,  viewing  of  lab  reports,  checking  the  status  of  blood availability and integration with payment gateway (PayGov).  121 hospitals have been integrated and 65.03 lakh appointments have been availed.
-  Jeevan  Pramaan: It  is  Aadhaar  enabled  Digital  Life  Certificate  for  Pensioners.  The scheme envisages to digitize the whole process of securing the life certificate.  More than 83.43 lakh pensioners have been registered for the scheme.
-  Biometric  Attendance  System: As  of  June  2017,  6,092  organizations  have  been registered and there are 19,44,935 Registered Employees.
-  National Scholarships Portal (NSP): National Scholarships Portal (NSP) has been developed  as  a  one-stop  solution  to  implement  end-to-end  disbursement  of  the scholarship to the beneficiaries. The process includes student registration, application, approval and disbursement. Over 1.21 crore applications have been submitted. There are 20 registered schemes from 8 Ministries/Departments. An amount of   Rs. 1156 crore has been disbursed to 39.46 lakh students till 31 st March 2017.

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