Note: Please note that some inputs have been given by our team in order to make the topic more relevant to UPSC.

Prelims Focus

Catch The Rain Campaign: The campaign aims to nudge the States into creating appropriate rain water harvesting systems before monsoon arrives in India. The campaign is a part of National Water Mission. It will be supported by opening Rain centres in each district. These rain centres will be manned by an engineer or a person well trained in Rain water harvesting system. It also focuses on maintenance of existing structures by removal of encroachments, de-silting of tanks, removal of obstructions in water channels, repairing of step-wells and other related steps, apart from the creation of new structures.

 

Prelims Focus

Sports Policy 2001: The policy was formulated by the government of India to achieve the twin objectives of broad-basing sports, as well as achieving excellence in sports. The Policy was launched in collaboration with Indian Olympic Association (IOA), National Sports Federation and the State governments. It outlined the need to integrate sports and physical education with the existing education curriculum, as well as the need to develop sports infrastructure in the country.

 

Topics covered from the syllabus:

GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. GS-2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

 

 

Prelims Facts

UN Development Programme (UNDP: It is an agency of United Nations which is tasked with helping countries decrease poverty and pursue human development and sustainable growth. It was founded in 1965 with headquarters in New York. Its parent organization is ECOSOC. UNDP is governed by a 36-member board overseen by an administrator.

 

Context: Prime Minister has given special emphasis on innovation as the factor determining economic development and growth in the county. In line with this, Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACIC) have been launched in the country.

Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC)

• Aim of ACIC: The stated objective of launching Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC) is to develop a spirit of entrepreneurship in the unserved and underserved regions of India. It also seeks to encourage innovation by providing enabling environment for the same. ACIC has been launched as a sub-initiative under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).
• Importance of Innovation: ACIC has been launched to stimulate ideas from the community itself, which will be helpful in growth of the backward regions of the country. There is a realization that growth must take into account two critical factors, viz. sustainability, which refers to causing minimal harm to the environment, and inclusiveness. Here, inclusiveness refers to leaving no one behind on the pathway of development.
• Focus Areas: The Mission seeks to encourage social innovation in areas like food security, health, living conditions, communal harmony, education and employment opportunities for the youth. At the same time, the primary focus is on the development of hitherto underdeveloped regions of the North-East, J&K, Rural and Tribal Areas, Tier 2 and 3 regions and Aspirational Districts.
• Partnership with UN Development Programme (UNDP): AIM/ACIC has partnered with UNDP (see inset) to accelerate youth-led social entrepreneurship and innovation in India. In fact, in partnership with NITI Aayog, UNDP and AIM have launched another initiative called as Youth Co:Lab. Youth Co:Lab has been launched to spread awareness about different issues pertaining to youth, future of work and fulfilling the commitments under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Primary Objectives of ACIC

• Social Innovation: Social innovation refers to the use of new social practices for the benefit of strengthening society. For e.g., there are many Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) like water.org which are working in the area of social innovation in India. Water.org has played an important role in sharing knowledge and arranging credit so that people can access safe and clean drinking water.
• Empowerment: ACIC has been instrumental in providing technical and capacity building support for encouraging the growth of start-ups. It has made efforts in the direction of creating enabling environment in the society, so that the start-ups can work in the direction of solving community problems. It has also helped the start-ups by providing mentoring and scientific support to the businesses, apart from sharing best practices through its information repositories.
• Cooperation: ACIC has taken the support of Mentor India’s network of mentors to provide support to emerging start-ups and students engaged in such start-ups. Also, it has taken a cluster-approach by providing a collaborative approach in which different innovative companies can learn from each other. It has also provided avenues for the polytechnic students to display their idea and extend it in such a way that they can capitalize on it to create a successful business model.
• Inclusiveness: ACIC has been instrumental in promoting innovation, in the areas considered backward. It has provided support for entrepreneurship by creating opportunities for self-employment, as well as making finance accessible to the people in such areas. ACIC has laid special emphasis on Aspirational Districts and underserved locations of the country.
• Sustainability: ACIC has created avenues for sustainable financial management in the country. It has also provided opportunities for the local industries to get involved with the businesses. The mission has leveraged the Corporate Social Responsibility funds to create financial incentives for engaging local industries.

Conclusion

Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACIC) may turn out to be one of the most important factors in the economic growth of rural and backward areas of the country. With its focus on backward regions and sections, it holds the potential to harness the energy of youth. If implemented well, ACICs may be the harbinger of inclusive growth in the country.

Practice Question

Discuss the major objectives of launching Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACIC). Also, highlight the importance of social innovation in fastening the pace of development of the country.

UPSC PYQs

• What are the areas of prohibitive labour that can be sustainably managed by robots? Discuss the initiatives that can propel research in premier research institutes for substantive and gainful innovation. (GS3 - 2015)
• Performance of welfare schemes that are implemented for vulnerable sections is not so effective due to absence of their awareness and active involvement at all stages of policy process – Discuss. (GS2 - 2019)

 

Topics covered from the syllabus:

GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. GS-2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

 

Prelims Facts

Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam: It is a Sanskrit phrase meaning ‘the world is one big family’. It has been taken from Maha-upanishad. The phrase was used by Mahatma Gandhi and helped him evolve his philosophy of truth and non-violence. It has also been the cornerstone of India’s international policy of pursuing world peace and respecting international law.

 

Context: A significant part of Indian population comprises of divyangjan, i.e. Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). It is critical to empower this section of the society, so that instead of feeling vulnerable, they are empowered and contribute to the development of society.

Legislative Provisions for Divyangjan

• Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities: Understanding the special needs of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), the government carved out a special department named Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This is in line with the broader vision of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam (see inset), being pursued by the Government of India since independence.
• ‘Divyang’: With a view to change the societal attitude towards PwDs and to encourage them to participate in the society without any feeling of inferiority, Prime Minister coined the term ‘divyang’ to denote PwDs. The term is especially relevant as it focusses on the other heightened senses of divyangjans, rather than focussing on their disability.
• UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD): The Convention came into force in 2008. It is an international treaty to safeguard the rights of PwDs. As a signatory to the convention, India enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, in order to streamline the domestic law in line with the convention.
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: The Act introduces a regime of inclusiveness in the country by safeguarding the rights of PwDs, as well as enacting special provisions for empowerment of divyangjans. Main points of the Act are as enumerated below:
• Rights and Entitlements: The Act provides for equality and non—discrimination, right to community life, protection from cruelty, inhuman treatment, abuse, violence and exploitation, accessibility in voting, access to justice, provision of guardianship, as well as reproductive rights to divyangjan.
• Education and Skill Development: The act also commits educational institutions to certain obligations and provides specific measures to promote and facilitate inclusive education in the country. At the same time, it provides for non-discrimination and equality of opportunity, to prevent discrimination against divyangjan.
• Reservation: The Act provides for reservation of PwDs in higher educational institutions as well as employment. It also increases the reservation of PwDs from 3% to 5% for persons with benchmark disabilities (i.e., disability of 40% or more). Similarly, reservation in government and government-aided higher educational institutions has been increased from 3% to 4%.
• Social Security: The act incentivizes the private sector to employ divyangjan, apart from establishing special employment exchanges for the PwDs. It also has the provision for special healthcare and insurance schemes for divyangjan, apart from encouraging participation of divyangjan in sports, recreation and cultural activities.

Government Schemes and Initiatives

• Accessible India Campaign: The campaign was launched in 2015 to create a barrier-free environment for divyangjan. The campaign covers public places like airports, government buildings, railway stations, buses and other sectors. The project envisages creation of ramps, help desks and accessible toilets in public places.
• Accessibility to ICT ecosystem: As a part of the Project, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also issued guidelines for making TV viewing accessible for Persons with hearing impairment.
• Sugamya Bharat: To understand the problems of divyangjan, the Government has launched Sugamya Bharat app. The app lets people provide feedback on accessibility issues for PwDs.
• Unique Disability Identity Project (UDID): The Project is aimed at easing disability certification, while weeding out fraud in the process. The guidelines under UDID provide for the creation of medical authority for ascertaining disability in a person. The first such authority was constituted in 2017 at Datia, MP.
• Mental Health Helpline: DEPwD has launched a 24x7 helpline for providing support to the persons suffering from mental health issues as well as their families. This is especially relevant in the light of WHO Report, which had highlighted in 2019 that COVID might lead to deterioration of mental health for one out of every four persons in coming times. The helpline is available in 13 languages.
• Divya Kala Shakti: It is a scheme of the Government of India to encourage divyangjan to participate in cultural activities. Through the scheme, the Government provides opportunities to the PwDs to showcase their prowess in the performance of fine arts. So far, two national level programmes of Divya Kala Shakti have been organized in Delhi, apart from two regional programmes in Itanagar and Chennai.
• Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) Scheme: Under this programme, the Government provides aids and assistive devices to PwDs so that they are not just able to perform daily activities, but are also able to get gainful employment and earn their livelihood independently. Under this scheme, the government has taken various steps including distribution of Artificial Limbs, cochlear implants etc..
• Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS): Recognizing the importance of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), the Government has launched DDRS to fund the NGOs. Apart from its stated objective of welfare and empowerment of disabilities, the scheme also provides grants-in-aid to the NGOs working in the field of welfare of divyangjan.

Other initiatives for welfare of PwDs

• Early Intervention Centres (EICs): Experts have pointed out that early detection and identification are key to treating the disability, as well as providing early interventions so as to enable the divyangjan to lead an independent and dignified life. In this direction, the government has established Early Intervention Centres at its National Institutes and Composite Regional Centres in 14 districts.

• Facilities at EICs: Such EICs are equipped with facilities for screening the cases, as well as providing therapeutic care to the detected cases. They house services like speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, parent/peer counselling, apart from preparatory schools for the improvement of cognitive abilities of children with disabilities.

• Education: Government has taken various steps in order to encourage divyangjan to take up higher education courses. For instance, it has initiated various scholarships including 25,000 Pre-Matric, 17,000 Post-Matric, 200 PhD and also, 20 scholarships for PwDs who want to study abroad. At the same time, the government is providing facilities for free coaching to PwDs for competitive examinations.

• Institutes: Institutes like Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), Delhi, have been setup in order to encourage the use of sign language and capacity development of service providers for same. Similarly, National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) at Sehore, MP, aims to work towards capacity building and rehabilitation of cured patients.
• Making NCERTs accessible: A MoU has been signed between ISLRTC, Delhi and NCERT to convert entire curriculum of NCERT from Classes I to XII into sign language. In fact, sign language version of the books has already been developed for Classes I to V. Also, a smartphone app with accessibility features has been developed for PwDs so that they can access the entire NCERT curriculum.

• Recruitment: Government of India took steps to fill the vacancies for divyangjans in Central government establishments. For instance, out of about 15,700 reported vacancies for divyangjan, 14,000 have already been filled. The Government has also identified Posts, which are suitable for Persons with benchmark disabilities.
• Participation in Sports: Tokyo Paralympics 2020 has been an eye-opener for the country as it showcased the talents of divyangjan. To capitalize on this talent, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPD) has set up a Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior. The Centre will have state of the art facilities for training of sportspersons with disabilities.

Conclusion

Divyangjan constitute one of the most vulnerable sections of the country. They also can be a source of untapped potential, which, if harnessed well, may increase the economic growth and development in the country. The need of the hour is proper sensitization of the community towards the issues faced by PwDs, as well as to remove the social stigma attached to their integration into the society.

Practice Question

Discuss the focus areas of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, while highlighting the initiatives taken by the government of India to address the issues faced by PwDs.

UPSC PYQs

• Multiplicity of various commissions for the vulnerable sections or the society leads to problems or overlapping jurisdiction and duplication of functions. Is it better to merge all commissions into an umbrella Human Rights Commission? Argue your case. (GS2 - 2018)
• Does the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 ensure effective mechanism for empowerment and inclusion of the intended beneficiaries in the society? Discuss. (GS2 - 2017)

 

Topics covered from the syllabus:

GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. GS-2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

 

Prelims Facts

Women Empowerment Initiatives: The government has taken various steps for women empowerment as enumerated below: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: It was launched by the PM to decrease the female infanticide rate in the country and encourage people to educate their daughters. The programme was in the nature of ‘nudge’, without any reward or punishment, but pointing people in the right direction. Ujjwala: It is a scheme launched by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to distribute free LPG connections to the poor and deprived households of the country. The programme seeks to reduce the use of unclean fuels like firewood, coal, dung-cakes etc. which may cause respiratory issues for the women and children. Swadhar Greh: It is a scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development to provide shelter, food, clothing, health and skill development support to the women in need. It caters to the needy women like women who have been deserted, victims of domestic violence, trafficked women, survivors of natural disasters, prisoners released from jail etc. PM Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): The scheme has twin objectives of helping pregnant and lactating women by preventing loss due to inability to attend to work, as well as decreasing the prevalence of malnutrition and anemia in the country. The scheme provides for DBT of Rs. 5000 in three stages, viz. registration, medical checkup after six months and immunization of the child.

 

Context: COVID-19 has been tougher to deal with for the vulnerable sections of the society, especially children. Many children lost their mother or father, with some being orphaned. There is a need to look into childcare policies to provide relief to such children.

Institutional Structure for Welfare of Children in India

• Laws governing Adoptions: Adoptions in India are governed by Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA). For non-Hindus, adoptions were earlier governed by Guardians and Wards Act, 1980. However, it was later superseded by Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (also referred to as JJ Act).
• Central Adoption Resource Authority: CARA was setup in 2015, as an autonomous body under Ministry of Women and Child Development. The agency is tasked with monitoring the process of in-country and inter-country adoptions in India. It also maintains a digital database of adoptable children as well as prospective parents. Inter-country adoptions are governed by 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoptions, which was ratified by India in 2003.
• Other Agencies: State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) acts as the nodal body to promote and monitor adoptions within the State. Similarly, Specialized Adoption Agency (SAA) is tasked with placing children in adoption. Authorized Foreign Adoption Agency (AFAA) is the foreign agency, which is recognized by CARA as the nodal agency for prospective parents from that country, adopting a child in India.
• District Child Protection Unit (DCPU): It is setup at the district level by the State government. The agency is tasked with identifying orphans, abandoned and surrendered children in the District. It also looks into declaring such children as legally free for adoption, with approval from Child Welfare Committee.

Government Initiatives for Welfare of Children

• Mission Vatsalya: It is a scheme of Government of India to secure a healthy and happy childhood for every child in India. The Mission’s objectives are to assist the States and UTs in implementing the provisions of JJ Act, 2015 and achieve SDG goals. It will include service delivery, non-institutional community based care, emergency outreach services, training and capacity building.
• Mission POSHAN 2.0: Mission POSHAN has been launched to address the issue of malnutrition in children. It seeks to shift the mindset from quantitative eating to qualitative eating, so that the focus is on eating healthy food. The objective of the mission is to improve the overall health and well-being of the population by promoting good and healthy eating habits.
• Mission Shakti: It is a government scheme for the empowerment of women and to improve their safety and security. The mission has two components, namely Sambal and Samarthya. Sambal seeks to improve the safety and security of women by implementing One Stop Centres (OSCs), Women Helplines and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP). On the other hand, Samarthya is focused on the empowerment of women and includes Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh, Working Women’s hostel, National Creche Service and PM Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) (see inset).
• PM CARES for Children: PM CARES for Children has been launched in order to support the children orphaned or abandoned due to COVID. It was launched on 29 May 2021. The scheme seeks to provide support to the children by providing them education, health insurance as well as financial support for self-existence.

• PM Jan Arogya Yojana: Under Ayushman Bharat – PM Jan Arogya Yojana, all families are covered by health insurance of Rs. 5 lakhs for secondary and tertiary medical treatment. The scheme extends to children, identified as the beneficiaries of PM CARES for children.

Reasons for Low rate of Adoption in India

• Strict Adoption Laws: Adoptions in India are governed by the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA) and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (referred to as JJ Act). Experts have pointed out that complying to the provisions of these laws is difficult for prospective parents. This is substantiated by the fact that despite almost 29,000 parents willing to adopt, lesser than 3,000 children are available for adoption.
• Insufficient Institutional Care: As pointed out earlier, the state of infrastructure for institutional care is insufficient in India, given the large number of orphaned and abandoned children in the country. Most of these children are found on streets begging or working on road-side stalls. Therefore, despite many prospective parents vying for adoption, the number of children in institutional care is lesser. This creates a gap between needy children and needy parents.
• Unregistered Child Care Institutions (CCI): As per National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), there are 5,850 registered CCIs in India. However, reports point out that there are actually more than 8,000 such institutions in the country, the difference being comprised of unregistered CCIs. However, only registered institutions are formally allowed to let parents adopt children, leaving children in such institutions unavailable for adoption.
• Insufficient Resources: As per the available data, there are almost 2.33 lakh children, currently placed in registered and unregistered CCIs in the country. There is a need to monitor the unregistered institutions by the government as the children in such institutions are vulnerable to abuse, trafficking, violence and poor care.
• More CCIs needed: To create more avenues for adoption, it is critical to expand the number of CCIs in the country. This can be accomplished by fastening the pace of registration of unregistered CCIs, while committing additional funds for opening new CCIs. At the same time, there is a need to move more children from the streets to institutional care.

Challenges being faced by Children

• Large population of Children: 39% (almost 47 crores) of India’s population comprises of children and teenagers (i.e., persons below 18 years of age). Out of this, almost 16 crores are children in the age group of 0-6 years. It is projected that, by 2050, most of the world’s population growth will come from 9 countries, including India. Therefore, India is one of the youngest countries in the world.
• Effect of COVID: COVID has been a disrupting event in the world, especially for the vulnerable sections of the society. Children have suffered disproportionately due to the advent of COVID, with many of them losing both their parents. As per media reports, almost 30 million children are orphaned or abandoned in the country, comprising almost 4% of the population.
• Absence of Support: Private organizations have pointed out that only 4.7 lakh children of the abandoned 3 crores, were in institutional care. At the same time, hardly 50 lakhs of the orphaned or abandoned children, are adopted.
• State of Adoption in India: As per Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), the adoption rates in India have fallen from 5,693 in-country adoptions in 2010, to 3,276 adoptions in 2017-18. This points to dismal rates of adoption in India, as well as the need for Government steps in this direction.
• Adoption of Divyang Children: It is well understood that it is the divyang (i.e., disabled) children, who are in greater need of adoption. However, between 2018 and 2019, only 40 divyang children were adopted, as per CARA data. At the same time, adoption of children with special needs by foreigners has been steadily increasing, pointing to the need for cultural sensitization among the prospective parents in the country.

Conclusion

To protect children from abuse, strict adoption laws have been implemented in India. Though made with the right intention, they have made it difficult to adopt a child by the prospective parents, leading to lack of family care for the abandoned and orphaned children. There is a need to rationalize the laws so that they do not hinder the support structure for the needy children.

Practice Question

What are the reasons for low adoption rate in the country? Also, explain the initiatives taken by the government to address the issues being faced by children in India.

 

 

UPSC PYQs

• Do government’s schemes for up-lifting vulnerable and backward communities by protecting required social resources for them, lead to their exclusion in establishing businesses in urban economics? (GS2 - 2014)
• Examine the main provisions of the National Child Policy and throw light on the status of its implementation. (GS2 - 2016)

 

Topics covered from the syllabus:

GS-2: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens’ charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures. GS-2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

 

Context: India is banking on its prowess in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to improve service delivery to the people and to transform the society into a digitally empowered community.

Objectives

• Inclusive: The foremost objective of increasing emphasis on digitization is to maintain the inclusivity in the country. With the expansion of digitization in governance, the government hopes to include the hitherto vulnerable groups, which are historically excluded from accessing the benefits associated with the welfare programs of the Government. For instance, JAM (Jan Dhan – Aadhar – Mobile) trinity has been used creatively to enhance financial inclusion in the country.
• Affordable: Digitization has the inherent benefit of remote access and decreased need for physical presence. This is especially relevant for the casual workers as they are able to save transport costs, while not missing out on the wages for the day. At the same time, the Government has taken steps to keep transaction charges on online services to a minimum so as to increase the absorption of digital services among the citizens.
• Transformative: By investing in digital infrastructure, the Government seeks to transform backward sections and regions of the country. As is manifested by IT revolution and the growth of BPO industry in India at the turn of the century, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) holds the potential for furthering the development of ‘Aspirational’ regions in the country.
• Accessible: Digital access to service plays an important role in improving access, as well as grievance redressal of the issues faced by people in accessing such services. The anonymity afforded by digital communication is helpful in providing confidence to the people. It also provides them avenues to demand government services as well as hold the government functionaries accountable.

Government Initiatives

• Digital India: The aim of Digital India initiative is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. It seeks to provide government services to citizens in a manner which empowers the citizens. It aims to enhance internet governance capability of the government, while banking on the fast expanding internet infrastructure in the country.
• Bharatnet: It is a programme of the Government of India to extend high speed digital connectivity to the rural areas. Being world’s largest rural connectivity programme, Bharatnet aims to foster broadband services in rural areas through the extension of National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) to all the gram panchayats in the country. It seeks to achieve last mile connectivity in the country.
• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): It is a scheme of the Government of India which seeks to reengineer the process of government service delivery to the People. The scheme has been recently extended to include transfer of benefits under PM Garib Kalyan Package. The aim of the scheme is to achieve swift and accurate transfer of funds to the beneficiaries, while decreasing duplication and weeding out the ghost accounts in the system.
• Government e-Marketplace (GeM): It is an e-Commerce platform of the Government of India which is used by the Government offices for Public procurement. The portal is hosted by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposal (DGS&D), with technical support from National e-Governance Division (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology).
• JAM Trinity: JAM refers to the use of PM Jan Dhan Yojana accounts, Aadhar and Mobile Phone for enhancing financial inclusion in the country. As stated above, the Government is implementing DBT through the use of JAM trinity, to deliver government services to the citizens.
• PM Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA): It is the scheme of Government of India to impart digital literacy to people in rural areas. It aims to reach all rural areas of States/UTs by educating at least one member of every eligible household. The scheme aims to bridge the digital divide, by focusing on vulnerable sections like SC/ST, minorities, BPL citizens and differently-abled persons. 
• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission: It is a mission of the Government of India to integrate the health related details of citizens. The mission works through a 14-digit Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number, which enables participation of an individual in the healthcare ecosystem. It provides a single account to access and share digital health records of an individual. It also allows a person to receive digital health report, prescriptions and diagnosis seamlessly from verified healthcare professionals and service providers.
• eSanjeevani: It is a scheme of the Government of India to provide telemedicine services to the people. Under this, a patient may access outpatient (OPD) services from the comfort of their home. This is especially relevant in a country like India which has a low doctor to population ratio. As a part of e-Sanjeevani, the patient is provided with a real time diagnosis and report by a specialist doctor (MBBS or masters qualification) over the internet.
• Jeevan Praman: It is a service of the Government of India to provide a Digital Life Certificate for disbursement of pension. It is available to pensioners of the Central government, State government and other government organizations. Jeevan Pramaan exempts the pensioners from being physically present in front of the pensions disbursement authority. It is especially beneficial for the old age or infirm patients, who may not be in the condition to be physically present before the authority.
• UMANG app: Unified Mobile Application for New Age Governance (UMANG) app is a part of Digital India initiative, launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The app offers multiple services of the Central as well as State governments, including information search, application forms, registration and payment for government services.
• Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood (DESH STACK): It is an e-portal being setup by the government of India to offer online skilling courses. The portal aims to connect the demand of industry with skilled persons seeking employment. Its objective is to fulfill the demand-supply mismatch in skills and employment in the country.

Challenges

• Lack of Adequate Infrastructure: Despite having one of the highest smartphone penetration in the world, India does not have requisite internet infrastructure to cater to the needs of the people. The broadband speeds are slow and broadband service is non-existent in the rural areas, leading to perpetuation of their backwardness.
• Lack of digital literacy: Multiple reports have pointed out to the lack of basic functional digital literacy in the country. There is a need to connect people to the basic functionality of the internet and need to make them aware of the possibilities offered by internet. The government has taken steps for enhancing digital literacy in the country. There is a need to redouble such efforts.
• Rural Areas: Rural areas suffer disproportionately, both, because of inadequate infrastructure and lack of digital literacy among people. The lack of physical and social infrastructure is the biggest reason for people to migrate to urban areas. To arrest such migration, it is critical to address the infrastructure deficit in the rural areas.
• Sector Specific Issues: For instance, healthcare sector in India suffers from the shortage of doctors, availability and affordability of pharmaceuticals and absence of universally available healthcare. Therefore, there is a need for new, innovative solutions to counter such issues. For instance, eSanjeevani takes the advantage of high smartphone penetration in the country to improve access to telemedicine for the people.

Conclusion

India, being one of the largest countries and a country with difficult terrain, has access issues to the government service delivery. However, the immense opportunities offered by internet provide a way out for ensuring faster and universal access to digital service delivery through carefully curated e-governance initiatives of the government.

Practice Question

Discuss the challenges associated with expansion of government service delivery in the country, highlighting the various initiatives taken by the government in this regard.

UPSC PYQs

• Implementation of information and Communication Technology (ICT) based Projects / Programmes usually suffers in terms of certain vital factors. Identify these factors, and suggest measures for their effective implementation. (GS2 - 2019)
• E-Governance is not only about utilization of the power of new technology, but also much about critical importance of the ‘use value’ of information. Explain. (GS2 - 2018)