Lok Sabha Question No. 3192 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-11
Subject: Digital India Programme in Bihar
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Manoj Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3192

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 11.03.2026

## DIGITAL INDIA PROGRAMME IN BIHAR

## 3192.    SHRI MANOJ KUMAR:

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

- (a) the status of the implementation of the Digital India Programme in the State of Bihar including that of Kaimur Bhabua and Rohtas districts of Sasaram Lok Sabha Constituency;
- (b) the total budgetary allocation under general and SCSP/TSP budget by Union Government during the last five years for the programme in the region and its utilization etc.;
- (c) the status of IT Park at Sasaram and Kaimur Bhabua;
- (d) the details of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) students who get computer education and skill and placed through the different short term, long term training and academic programme of NIELIT including Kaimur and Rohtas districts of Bihar;
- (e) whether the Government has plan to establish IT infrastructure including new NIELIT center in Kaimur and Rohtas districts of the Sasaram Lok Sabha Constituency; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a)  to  (f):  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.

Under the Digital India Programme, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has  taken  several  initiatives  to  enable  online  delivery  of  citizen-centric  services.  These  include development and implementation of digital platforms, promotion of Aadhaar-based authentication for beneficiary  identification,  and  expansion  of  service  delivery  through  Common  Service  Centres (CSCs) to provide assisted access to citizens, particularly in rural and remote areas. Details of some of the key initiatives are as follows:

- DigiLocker: DigiLocker has provided anytime access to authentic digital documents from original  issuer  for  the  common  citizen.  More  than 67.17+  crore users  are  registered  with DigiLocker to avail its services and more than 967.01+ crore documents issued from 2456 issuers onboarded on the platform. More than 255.78 Lakh Aadhaar enabled registrations have taken place in the State of Bihar to avail DigiLocker services.
- Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG), one mobile application for all government services, is operational and offers 2446+ services for individuals. In the
- State  of  Bihar,  services  from  various  departments  integrated/onboarded  on  the  UMANG platform  include  e-Labharthi  (4  services),  Mera  Ration  (1  service),  and  Post  Matric Scholarship -Bihar (2 services).
- eSign: It provides easy, efficient, and secure signing of electronic documents by an Aadhaar holder. There are 37.72 crore e-Signs issued so far and 610.78 Lakh e-Signs have been issued in the State of Bihar.
- Aadhaar: Aadhaar is the world's largest digital identity programme that provides biometric and  demographic-based  unique  digital  identity. 143.80+  crore  Aadhaar  IDs have  been generated so far. 12.27 Crore Aadhaar IDs have been generated in the state of Bihar.
- 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 on January, 2026, 5.54 lakh CSCs are functional across the country (in rural and urban areas), out of which 4.32 lakh CSCs are  functional  at  the  Gram  Panchayat  level  (rural).  A  total  number  of 62,106  CSCs are functional in the state of Bihar, including 905 CSCs in Kaimur Bhabhua and 1376 CSCs in Rohtas District. State/UT wise and district wise details of CSCs  are available at https://csc.gov.in/ and list of services is available at https://csc.gov.in/.
- National Knowledge Network (NKN): NKN carries the digital-traffic of National/state Data Centres (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. It also interconnects  higher  education  and  research  institutions  across  the  country  to  facilitate resource sharing and collaborative research, thereby supporting both the National Government Network (NGN) and the Research & Education Network (REN). A total of 1,823 institutes are connected under NKN, including 54 institutes in Bihar, while 681 district links covering 560 districts are operational across India, of which 43 are in Bihar.
- National Scholarship Portal (NSP): The platform enables scheme owning Ministries/Departments and States/UTs to process applications and disburse Scholarships/funds  directly  into  the  beneficiary's  bank  account  through  Direct  Benefit Transfer  (DBT)  mode.  The  National  Scholarship  Portal  (NSP)  serves  over  7.47  Crore beneficiaries, with a total disbursement exceeding Rs. 44,181+ Crore. So far, 153 schemes belonging to 13 Ministries/Departments and 21 States/UTs are onboarded on NSP. Till 31 st January 2026, about 29 lakh scholarships amounting to Rs. 1,460 crore has been disbursed in the  State  of  Bihar  including  Kaimur  Bhabhua  and  Rohtas  districts  of  Sasaram  Lok  Sabha Constituency.
- 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 6.11+ crore citizens are registered with MyGov, participating in various activities hosted on MyGov platform.

The  Government  has  taken  several  initiatives  to  provide  skilling/upskilling  to  youth,  including students  from  Scheduled  Castes(SC),  Scheduled  Tribes(ST),  Other  Backward  Classes(OBC),  and Economically Weaker Sections(EWS). These initiatives aim to develop industry-ready manpower in emerging and advanced technology domains across the country, including the State of Bihar. The key initiatives are as follows:

(i).  PMGDISHA: Under the Digital  India programme, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was launched in 2017 to ensure digital literacy. The scheme concluded on 31st March 2024. Key aspects of the scheme were:

- o The Scheme was one of the world's largest digital literacy initiatives
- o Over 6.39 Crore persons trained nationwide (against the target of 6 Crore)
- o 74,12,740 candidates were trained in the state of Bihar, including 1,28,125 candidates from Kaimur (Bhabhua) and 2,21,634 Rohtas district.

(ii).  FutureSkills  Prime: FutureSkills  PRIME program is a  collaborative initiative of MeitY and National  Association  of  Software  and  Service  Companies  (NASSCOM)  aimed  at  making  India  a cutting-edge digital talent nation. Key features are:

- o Skilling, reskilling, and upskilling in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, IoTs, Cyber Security, Blockchain, AR/VR, etc.
- o Courses are developed in the consultation with industry to align with actual employment needs.
- o Portal can be accessed online at https://futureskillsprime.in/ to earn skill certificates in line with their aptitude and aspirations.
- o Under the programme, so far, 17.24+ lakh candidates have enrolled/trained in various courses.
- o In the state of Bihar, a total of 26,000 candidates are enrolled/trained in various courses. This includes more than 800 in Rohtas district and 300+ in Kaimur Bhabhua district.

## (iii). National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT):

- o NIELIT provides digital literacy courses such as Awareness in Computer Concept (ACC), Course on Computer Concepts (CCC) etc.
- o NIELIT has trained 43 lakh+ candidates under various courses, including digital literacy and cyber security awareness.
- o Training is delivered through a wide network of 56 NIELIT Centres and 9000+ Accredited Training Partners/Facilitation Centres.
- o NIELIT is providing digital skilling to the youth of Bihar through its own 3 Centres located in the State at Patna, Buxar, Muzaffarpur for overall monitoring of skill development activities in the State. Besides own centres, NIELIT has more than 300 Facilitation Centres spread across the  State,  out  of  which  06  centres  are  located  in  the  Districts  of  Rohtas  and  Kaimur,  for promoting Digital Literacy Courses (DLC).
- o In the last 2 years, number of candidates skilled in various long term and short term in the state of Bihar is as under:

| Year                 | 2023-2024   |   2024-2025 |
|----------------------|-------------|-------------|
| No. of SC Candidates | 1,186       |         985 |
| No. of ST Candidates | 137         |          96 |

(iv). In addition, the NIELIT Digital University (NDU) Platform is launched by NIELIT under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to deliver online and blended skillbased courses in emerging technology areas. This Platform is designed to offer future-ready, industryaligned  programs  in  emerging  technologies  such  as  Artificial  Intelligence,  Cybersecurity,  Cloud Computing, and other frontier domains. This platform also features built-in virtual labs for real-time experimentation in Semiconductor Design, cybersecurity, Cyber Forensics, Industry 4.0, and other emerging domains. Through the NDU platform, every learner can have access anytime-anywhere to NSQF-aligned courses. So far more than 55,000 candidates have registered through NDU Platform.

The  Government  of  India  is  making  continuous  efforts  to  promote  IT  industry  across  India including smaller cities and towns. As a part of this initiative, Software Technology Parks have been established in 68 cities across India with 60 centres in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. The STPI centres provide  Incubation services,  High Speed Data Communication services,  Cloud services and other statutory support services. At present, three Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) centres are operational in Bihar at Patna, Bhagalpur, and Darbhanga.

Digital  India  is  an  umbrella  programme  covering  multiple  projects  implemented  across  Central Ministries/Departments and State/UT Governments. Its execution requires close coordination among these  agencies,  as  many  initiatives  are  jointly  developed  and  implemented.  The  details  of  funds allocated  to  MeitY  under  the  Digital  India  Programme  for  the  General  component,  Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC), and Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) for the last five years (2020 -21 to 2024 -25), along with the current financial year 2025 -26 (as on 23.02.2026), is as below:

(Rs. in crore)

*****

| Budget heads                                         |   FY 2020-21 |   FY 2021-22 |   FY 2022-23 |   FY 2023-24 |   FY 2024-25 |   FY 2025-26 |
|------------------------------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| General component                                    |      2587.82 |       5429.8 |      4534.96 |      3737.81 |      3547.05 |      4371.76 |
| Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC) |       253    |        530.2 |       487.7  |       382.78 |       346.36 |       427.55 |
| Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) |       204    |        428   |       377.84 |       307.42 |       279.59 |       345.14 |