Evolving Landscape of Digital Inclusion in India Report

Syllabus: GS3/Digital Inclusion

Context

• ‘The Evolving Landscape of Digital Inclusion in India’, released by the National Council of Applied Economic Research argues that India’s digital divide has entered a new phase. 

Major Highlights

• India’s digital revolution has succeeded in putting mobile phones in nearly every household, but it has fallen short of delivering meaningful digital inclusion. 
• Nearly Universal Access: While 95.1% of households own a mobile device and 74.8% have access to a smartphone or internet-enabled phone, only 39.7% of individuals aged 15 and above use the internet.
• Connectivity Gaps also Persist: Around 27.5% of households remain offline, including 32.2% in rural India and 52.1% among the poorest consumption group. 
• Usage Pattern: Even among connected households, internet use is largely entertainment-driven. 
  • About 66% use it to watch movies, television or news content, and 53.8% use social media, compared with 16.1% who use it for online courses and 11.4% who access government services digitally.
• Hidden Divide: One in five households requires help from someone outside, rising to one in three among households with no formal education.
• Gender Disparities: Internet use among working-age adults stands at 57.6% for men and 35.6% for women, while only 37.8% of children aged 13-16 actively use the internet.
• The study calls for four priorities: expanding affordable broadband and public Wi-Fi, improving access to computers and shared devices, strengthening digital literacy and skills, and targeting women, rural households, poorer families and disadvantaged communities.

Government Initiatives for Digital Inclusion

• The Digital India program was launched by the Government on July 1, 2015, envisions transforming India into a knowledge-based economy and digitally empowered society.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): It enables instant, interoperable and secure transactions between individuals and merchants in real time.
  • The International Monetary Fund, in its 2025 report on growing retail digital payments, recognised UPI as the world’s largest retail fast payment system by transaction volume. 
  • Within India, 81% of total retail payment transactions are processed on UPI.
• The PM-WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) framework, launched in 2020, expanded affordable public internet access through decentralized public Wi-Fi hotspots. As of June 2026, over 4.10 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots operate across States and Union Territories.
• DigiLocker: Launched in 2015, DigiLocker introduced a secure digital document wallet for citizens. It allows individuals to store, access and share authenticated electronic documents with consent-based access. 
• UMANG: Launched in 2017, UMANG, or the Unified Mobile Application for New age Governance, was designed to advance mobile governance in India. It provides a single window mobile and web platform to access services from central, state and local government bodies. 
• Initiatives such as BharatNet and the National Broadband Mission strengthened rural broadband connectivity and public Wi-Fi access.
• Common Service Centres (CSCs), which have grown from 0.83 lakh centres in 2014 to over 5.01 lakh functional centres by April 2026, improve digital access and delivery of citizen services across rural and urban areas.
• DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing), with over 2 crore registered users, serves as a unified, AI-enabled digital education platform, with all States/UTs onboarded and hosting 7,497 Energized Textbooks and over 3.74 lakh e-content resources.
• E-Governance: E-Governance in India has revolutionized the way citizens interact with the government by making services more accessible, transparent, and efficient. It involves initiatives like Mission Karmayogi, DigiLocker, and UMANG App.

Way Ahead

• Strengthen Digital Infrastructure: India should accelerate broadband connectivity under BharatNet, especially in remote and tribal areas. Expand 4G/5G coverage and improve internet reliability.
• Enhance Digital Literacy: Scale up digital literacy programs, particularly for women, senior citizens, and rural populations.
• Bridge the Gender Digital Divide: Implement targeted initiatives to improve women’s access to mobile phones, internet services, and digital skills training.
• Promote Regional Language Content: Expand digital services and applications in Indian languages.
• Expand Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): Deepen the reach of platforms such as Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and DigiLocker while ensuring inclusivity and privacy safeguards.
• Strengthen Public-Private Partnerships: Foster collaboration among government, industry, civil society, and academia to create inclusive digital ecosystems.

Conclusion

• Digital inclusion should move beyond mere internet access to ensuring affordability, accessibility, digital skills, cybersecurity, and meaningful participation in the digital economy, thereby supporting the vision of a digitally empowered and inclusive India.

Source: TOI