Bridging the Digital Divide in India: Some Challenges and Opportunities
Neena Singh
Abstract
This article discusses initiatives made in India towards digital access to information and the role of several programs in bridging the digital divide. Highlights include the far reaching policy reforms of the government in agriculture and rural development, giving impetus to reform in the telecom and IT sectors.
The author emphasizes some of the projects initiated by the government to reach remote and rural areas like “Grameen sanchar sevak,” “Gyan Doot,” the CARD and e–Seva projects, etc. It further discusses Digital Library Projects, viz. the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and Vidya Vahini, digital mobile libraries and library networks and community information centers. The paper also mentions the role of educational institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology in reducing the information gap by launching projects like Infometa and Webel, and it discusses the role of private business houses and Indian dot–com companies in information dissemination. The article also highlights some of the challenges and barriers to digitization and the need for strong determination, good policy–making and political support in bridging the digital divide in the country.
India, a union of states, is the second most populous nation in the Asian region behind China. The country has achieved impressive progress in the field of science and technology and is emerging as one of the strongest economies in the developing world. Information and communication technologies have brought significant changes in development of the Indian society through information dissemination. Technology today is what industrial machines were to the industrial revolution. In today’s world they are engines of growth, power and wealth and very crucial for economic and social development.
No other technology is as profound as information technology (IT) in human history. IT has had a great influence on the economy and lives of people across the world. In India the benefits of IT are beginning to be seen and the impact of these benefits are creating great change. It is also true that the use of digital technologies in the world has not only improved people’s day–to–day life but it has also divided the world into information rich and information poor, i.e. the information haves and have–nots. The unequal access to information and communication technologies has led to a massive divide digitally. Although India has been one of the emerging super powers in IT, the benefits have been remarkably slow, particularly in rural and remote areas. Besides socio–economic factors, geographic, educational and attitudinal factors have been some of the challenges for the government when introducing IT–oriented programs.
Scope of the Paper
The scope of this paper is to evaluate the efforts made India in bridging the digital divide. It discusses several ongoing projects and programmes initiated by the government, non–government organizations and private business houses, and describes some of the challenges faced by the country in overcoming these barriers. The scope of this paper is to highlight the reflections rather than to sharply draw any conclusions.