Lok Sabha Question No. 71 (STARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Implementation of Digital India Scheme
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Sanatan Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *71

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 04.02.2026

## IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGITAL INDIA SCHEME

## † *71.  SHRI SANATAN PANDEY:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the status of implementation of Digital India Scheme in the country;
- (b)  whether  all  the  villages  and  remote  towns  across  the  country  have  been  connected  with  basic communications/internet services;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor along with the time by which the entire nation is likely to be connected with the said services; and
- (d) whether the Government is providing basic internet facilities to all villages to educate the youth of the country particularly the rural youth keeping in view the online classes and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

† O.I.H.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN THE REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  *71  FOR  04.02.2026  REGARDING 'IMPLEMENTATION  OF  DIGITAL  INDIA SCHEME'

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(a)  to  (d):  In  line  with  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister's  vision  to  democratise  technology  and  empower citizens, the Government of India had launched the Digital India programme in July, 2015. The overall goal is to ensure that digital technologies improve the lif e of every citizen, expand India's digital economy, and create investment and employment opportunities in India.

At its core, the programme promotes three interconnected goals: strengthening digital infrastructure, delivering  government  services  digitally,  and  empowering  citizens  through  digital  literacy  and employment.

Details of some of the key initiatives are as follows:

- The JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) is a transformative initiative by the Government of India designed to foster financial inclusion, improve governance, and ensure efficient delivery of welfare benefits and public services
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI): UPI has revolutionized digital transactions across the country. UPI has empowered millions of individuals and small businesses in rural and remote areas to make fast, secure and low-cost digital payments, significantly advancing financial inclusion. UPI is now live  in  over  eight  countries,  including  the  UAE,  Singapore,  Bhutan,  Nepal,  Sri  Lanka,  France, Mauritius, Qatar making India a global trailblazer in digital payments. UPI is now the world's biggest digital payments system.
- UPI serves 6.5 crore merchants, and connects 685 banks on one platform, making it the world's largest digital payment system.
- UPI  powers  81%  of  India's  digital  payments  and  nearly  49%  of  global  real -time  digital payments.
- Aadhaar: Aadhaar is the world's largest digital identity programme that provides biometric and demographic-based unique digital identity. 143+ crore Aadhaar IDs have been generated so far.
- DigiLocker: DigiLocker has provided anytime access to authentic digital documents from original issuer for the common citizen. More than 65.01 crore users are registered with DigiLocker to avail its  services  and  more  than  950+  crore  documents  issued  from  2412  issuers  onboarded  on  the platform.
- UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is  a  Government  of  India digital  platform  that  provides  single-window  access  to  multiple  government  services  from  the Centre, States, and local bodies. Presently, 2,390+ (Central - 872; State - 1518) are being offered through UMANG platform.
- Government e-Marketplace (GeM): GeM enables online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs. It has over 1.68 lakh primary buyers.
- Common Services Centres -CSCs are offering government and business services in digital mode enhancing last-mile connectivity in rural areas through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). Over 800  services are  being  delivered  through  CSCs.  As  of  December,  2025,  5.87  lakh  CSCs  are
- functional across the country (in rural and urban areas), out of which 4.57 lakh CSCs are functional at the Gram Panchayat level (rural).
- Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT): DBT uses Aadhaar to deliver welfare payments directly and remove fake beneficiaries. So far, Rs. 48+ lakh crore has been transferred through DBT. Majority of the disbursement of Governments' welfare schemes is being carried out through DBT.
- e-Sanjeevani -e-Sanjeevani facilitates quick and easy access to doctors and medical specialists directly from your smartphone. The platform has served more than 44.60 crore patients across the country.
- MyGov: MyGov is a Government of India's Citizen Engagement Platform which collaborates with multiple  Government  bodies/  Ministries  to  engage  people  in  policy  formulation  and  seeks  the opinion of people on issues/ topics of public interest and welfare. Presently,  over 6.08+ crore citizens are registered with MyGov, participating in various activities hosted on MyGov platform.
- Jeevan Pramaan: Jeevan Pramaan is an Aadhaar biometric-enabled digital service that allows Central, State, and other Government pensioners to conveniently submit Digital Life Certificates (DLCs) from anywhere in India, including their homes, using Aadhaar-based authentication. Over 11.96 crore Digital Life certificates have been processed since 2014.
- PMGDISHA: The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was initiated to reach digital literacy in 6 crore rural households (one person per household) nationwide. As against 6 crore, 6.39 crore individuals were trained across the country, making it one of the world's largest digital literacy initiatives.
- FutureSkills PRIME: To bridge the industry skill gap, MeitY has initiated a programme titled 'FutureSkills  PRIME'  jointly  with  National  Association  of  Software  and  Service  Companies (NASSCOM) aimed at re-skilling/up-skilling of candidate in new/emerging technologies. Under the FutureSkills Prime program, there are over 500+ courses & 2000+ digital fluency pathways offered  on  the  platform.  More  than  16.20+  lakh  candidates  have  enrolled  in  various  courses comprising of approximately 41% women learners and candidates from 720 tier-2 and tier-3 cities have enrolled.
- National Knowledge Network (NKN) carries the digital-traffic of National/state Data Centers (NDCs/SDCs), State-Wide Area Networks (SWANs) and provides connectivity to various Digital India initiatives, and carry digital-traffic of various G2G (Government to Government) and G2C (Government  to  Citizen)  services,  District  Connectivity,  etc.  NKN  also  inter-connects  all knowledge  institutions  across  the  country  through  high-speed  data  communication  network  to encourage sharing of resources and collaborative research.  At present, 1,869 institutional links and 681 links to NIC District Centres are  operational under NKN, supporting the secure and reliable flow of digital governance data across the country.

Basic communications/ internet services: Internet access is available in the country including rural areas  through  the  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  through  wireless  mobile  and  fixed  wireline broadband. Department  of Telecommunications  (DoT), Government of  India has taken numerous initiatives  to  enhance  internet  connectivity  in  India  through  mobile  connectivity  and  optical  fibre rollout. As of November, 2025, there are 123.40+ crore Telephone subscribers and 100.30+ crore broadband subscribers in the country (as per TRAI). Details of the major projects are as follows:

- BharatNet :  As of December 2025; 2,14,904 Gram Panchayats (GPs) have been made serviceready under the BharatNet project. Further, Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) has also been approved by the Government for up-gradation of existing network of BharatNet.
- Under  4G  Saturation  Project  and  other  Mobile  projects,  23,694  mobile  towers  have  been commissioned in the country to cover uncovered remote regions.
- Commissioning of submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) on 10.08.2020 between Chennai and Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  (2312  Km)  and  commissioning  of  Submarine  OFC  connectivity between  Mainland  (Kochi)  and  Lakshadweep  Islands  (1869  km)  (Total  11  Islands;  Kavaratti, Kalpeni,  Agatti,  Amini,  Androth,  Minicoy,  Bangaram,  Bitra,  Chetlat,  Kiltan  and  Kadmath)  on 03.01.2024. Creation of 225 Km OFC network in Lakshadweep Islands for provision of FTTH & other  services.  These  optical  fibre  cable  projects  have  facilitated  faster  roll  out  of  fixed  line broadband/internet services, mobile services (4G/5G) and other high-speed data services in the Islands.
- As per Registrar General of India (RGI), out of a total of 6,44,131 villages in the country, 6,34,955 villages have  mobile  coverage.  Further, 6,32,058  villages have  internet  connectivity  (3G/4G mobile coverage).

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