Lok Sabha Question No. 166 (STARRED), answered on 2016-03-09
Subject: Digital Divide
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: YERRAM VENKATA SUBBAREDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *166

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 09.03.2016

## DIGITAL DIVIDE

## *166         SHRI Y. V. SUBBA REDDY:

Will the Minister of Communications and Information Technology be pleased to State:

- (a) whether the World Bank has recently released the World Development Report 2016 on -Digital Dividends'' and if so, the main highlights of the Report;
- (b) whether the report has also pointed out that digital dividends are not spreading evenly and rapidly in India, in spite of the country ranking among the top five nations in terms of internet users;
- (c) if so, the response of the Government thereto; and
- (d) the  efforts  being  made  by  the  Government  to  bridge  the  digital  divide  in  the  country including penetration of internet, across different regions?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION NO.*166 FOR 09.03.2016 REGARDING DIGITAL DIVIDE

……..

(a) and (b): Yes, Sir. The main highlights of the report are at Annexure.

- (c) and (d): (i) As per the TRAI report, till September 2015 there are 32.5 crores internet users in India, out of  which  21.3  crores  are  urban  users  and  11.2  crores  are  rural  users.  The  number  of  internet  users  has increased from 25.4 crores to 32.5 crores registering a growth of 27% in a year. This increase is continuous and significant. With the implementation of NOFN penetration of internet will further increase.
- (ii) The Government is aware of the benefits of digital penetration in socio economic development of the country and holistic inclusion of each citizen to reap Digital Dividends. With a view to transform India into a Digitally  Empowered Society and knowledge economy, the Digital India Programme was launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on 1 st July,  2015.  Digital  India  is  a  programme  to  transform  India  into  a  digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. It is an Umbrella Programme that covers multiple Government Ministries  and  Departments.  Digital  India  is  to  be  coordinated  by  DeitY  and  implemented  by  the  entire Government. The vision of Digital India is centered on three key areas:
- a. Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen   b. Governance and Services on Demand c. Digital Empowerment of Citizens
- (iii)  There  are  nine  pillars  of  growth  areas  under  the  Digital  India  Programme.  Each  of  these  areas  is  a complex programme in itself and cuts across multiple Ministries and Departments. 'Pillars of Digital India' as under:
1. Broadband  Highways    2.    Universal  Access  to  Mobile  Connectivity    3.  Public  Internet  Access Programme  4.    e-Governance  -  Reforming  Government  through  Technology  5.  eKranti  -  Electronic delivery of services  6.  Information for All  7.  Electronics Manufacturing  8. IT for Jobs   9.  Early Harvest Programmes

This  program  has  already  started  showing  results  and  most  of  the      initiatives  under  the  pillar  viz.  'Early Harvest  Programs'  -  Jeevan  Praman,  Digital  Locker,  MyGov,  e-Hospital,  National  Scholarship  Portal, eSampark,  Pro-active  Governance  and  Timely  Implementing  (PRAGATI),  Bio-metric  Attendance  system, have already been implemented. New initiatives which are under implementation relate to creating Digital Content in Indian languages, making all Central Government payment as e-payment, making GIS support for e-Governance, popularizing cloud for e-governance.

- (iv)    Government has launched National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) plan under which 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats  in  the  country  would  be  connected  with  robust  broadband  connectivity.  Under  this  project 100Mbps bandwidth is to be provided in all the Gram Panchayats for utilization by all categories of service providers on non discriminatory. The timeline for connecting one lakh GPs with OFC to provide broadband connectivity under Phase-I has been revised to 31.12.2016. In the First Phase 5,108 Gram Panchayats have been   lit  as  on  28 th February,  2016.  The  States  of  Kerala,  Chandigarh  and  Puducherry  have  been  covered completely. Till now, 1,24,794  kms of optical fibre pipe and 96,597 kms of optical fibre has  been laid. In June, 2014, when the present Government came to power, total fibre laid was 250 kms and laying of OFC was completed in only 59 Gram Panchayats. This will facilitate to deliver various G2G, G2B and G2C services online. Other social sector services like e-Health, e-Education, Skill development and Financial Inclusion etc. will also be delivered on availability of broadband connectivity in rural areas by the service providers.

(v)    Common  Service  Centres  (CSCs)  have  been  established  in  135,598  villages  offering  G2C  &  B2C services. CSCs are also being expanded under CSC 2.0 scheme so as to have one CSC in all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats across the country. The Government is spreading Digital literacy in a significant way, undertaking digitization of the vast network of postal services and in near future to launch BPO scheme in small cities of the country.  All these efforts will give digital dividends.

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## HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2016

-  The report analysed the impact of the internet, mobile phones, and related technologies on economic development across the world including India.
-  In  relation  to  India  the  report  appreciated  the  Aadhaar  scheme  as  it  saved  1  billion  US dollars by bringing down corruption.
-  The world's offline population  is mainly  in  India  and  China,  but  more  than  120  million people are still offline in North America and the digital divide within countries can be as high as that between countries.
-  Worldwide, nearly 21 percent of households in the bottom 40 percent of their countries' income distribution don't have access to a mobile phone, and 71 percent don't have access to the internet.
-  The increased connectivity has had limited effect in reducing information inequality
-  Digital technologies, apart from resulting in economic benefits, influenced the participation of women in the labor force, the ease of communication for people with disabilities, and the way people spend their leisure.
-  By  overcoming  information  barriers,  augmenting  factors,  and  transforming  products, digital technologies can make development more inclusive, efficient, and innovative.
-  Digital dividends are not spreading rapidly as nearly 60 percent of the world's people are still offline and can't fully participate in the digital economy.
-  There  also  are  persistent  digital  divides  across  gender,  geography,  age,  and  income dimensions within each country.
-  Some of the perceived benefits of the internet are being neutralized by new risks like vested business interests, regulatory uncertainty, and limited contestation across digital platforms that could lead to harmful concentration in many sectors.
-  Quickly  expanding  automation,  even  of  mid-level  office  jobs,  could  contribute  to  a hollowing out of labor markets and to rising inequality.
-  It  also  cautioned  that  the  poor  record  of  many  e-government  initiatives  points  to  high failure  of  ICT  projects  and  the  risk  that  states  and  corporations  could  use  digital technologies to control citizens, not to empower them.
-  Regulations  are  needed  which  help  firms  in  leveraging  the  internet  to  compete  and innovate. Improved skills will help people take full advantage of digital opportunities. And, Accountable institutions will ensure governments respond to citizens' needs and demands.
-  Market  competition,  public-private  partnerships  and  effective  regulation  of  internet  and mobile  operators  encourage  private  investment  that  can  make  access  universal  and

## Annexure

- affordable.  Public  investment  will  sometimes  be  necessary  and  justified  by  large  social returns.
-  A  harder  task  will  be  to  ensure  that  the  internet  remains  open  and  safe  as  users  face cybercrime, privacy violations, and online censorship.
-  The  report  suggested  that  Digital  development  strategies  need  to  be  broader  than  ICT strategies.  It  cautioned  that  when  the  analog  complements  are  absent,  the  development impact  will  be  disappointing,  but  when  countries  build  a  strong  analog  foundation,  they will reap ample digital dividends-in faster growth, more jobs, and better services.

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