Lok Sabha Question No. 2538 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-01-03
Subject: Digital Literacy
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: ABHISHEK SINGH, ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (MeitY)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2538

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 03.01.2018

## DIGITAL LITERACY

## 2538.  SHRI ABHISHEK SINGH: SHRI ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  Digital  Literacy  specially  among  rural population;
- (b) the various schemes being run by Central Government in this regard;
- (c) the position of India among various developed countries in terms of digital literacy; and
- (d) the reason behind low percentage of digital literacy and the action thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ALPHONS KANNANTHANAM)

- (a) to (d): (1) The Government has taken following steps to increase digital literacy in rural areas:
- i) In  the  years  2014  to  2016,  two  Schemes  entitled  'National  Digital  Literacy  Mission' (NDLM) and 'Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' (DISHA) were implemented with a target to train  52.50  lakh  candidates  in  digital  literacy  across  the  country  including  rural  India. Under these two schemes, a total of 53.67 lakh beneficiaries were trained, out of which around 42% candidates were from rural India.
- ii) In  February,  2017,  the  Government  has  approved  a  scheme  titled  'Pradhan  Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan' (PMGDISHA) for ushering in digital literacy in rural India  by  covering  6  Crore  rural  households  at  a  total  outlay  of  Rs.  2,351.38  Crore (approx.). It is implemented as a Central Sector Scheme by the Ministry of Electronics & Information  Technology  through  an  implementing  agency  namely  CSC  e-Governance Services India Limited (CSC-SPV), with active collaboration of all the State Governments and UT Administrations, District e-Governance Society (DeGS), etc. The targets under the PMGDISHA Scheme are expected to be achieved by 31.3.2019. As on 28.12.2017, more than 1 crore candidates have completed the training out of which more than 48 lakh have been certified by a duly authorized 3 rd party Assessment Agencies.
- (2) According  to  National  Sample  Survey  Office  (NSSO)  survey  2014,  around  6%  of  rural population have access to computers, which means around 94% population do not have access to computer hence, a significant number of these households are likely to be digitally illiterate. Keeping this  in  view,  Government  initiated  various  digital  literacy  schemes  for  the  citizens across the country especially in rural areas. In addition, Government has focused on providing broadband  connectivity  through  BharatNet,  State  Wide  Area  Network  (SWAN),  National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) and 3G/4G mobile services to the various parts of the country including rural areas. It may be seen that as per TRAI, total number of Internet Subscribers has grown  to  429.23  million  (including  129.41  Million  in  rural  areas)  in  September,  2017  as compared to 259.14 million in June 2014; total number of Wireless Subscribers has grown to 1,183.04 Million (including 498.28 Million from rural India) in September, 2017 from 914.92

Million  in  June  2014  (including  377.36  Million  from  rural  India);  total  number  of  Internet Subscribers per 100 population has grown to 33.22 in September, 2017 as compared to 20.83 in  June  2014;  and average  Data  Usage  per  subscriber  per  month  has  grown  to 1600  MB in September,  2017  as  compared  to  70.10  MB  in  June  2014.  As  per  recent  Mckinsey  (Draft) Report on Trillion Dollar Digital Opportunity, India has the 2 nd fastest rate of growth of digital adoption among 17 major digital economies.

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