What is Digital India ?

Digital India is an initiative of Government of India to integrate the government departments and the people of India. It aims at ensuring that the government services are made available to citizens electronically by reducing paperwork. The initiative also includes plan to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks. Digital India has three core components.

Vision of Digital India

The creation of digital infrastructure

Delivering services digitally

Digital literacy

1) The creation of digital infrastructure

• High speed internet as a core utility

• Cradle to grave digital identity-unique, lifelong,online,authenticable

• Mobile phone & Bank account enabling participation in Digital & financial space

• Easy access to a Common Service Center

• Shareable private space on a public cloud

• Safe and secure Cyber-space

2) Delivering services digitally

• Seamlessly integrated across departments or jurisdictions

• Services available in real time from online & mobile platform

• All citizen entitlements to be available on the cloud

• Services digitally transformed for improving Ease of Doing Business

• Making financial transactions electronic & cashless

• Leveraging GIS for decision support systems & development

3) Digital literacy

• Universal Digital Literacy

• Universally accessible digital resources

• All documents/ certificates to be available on cloud

• Availability of digital resources/services in Indian languages

• Collaborative digital platforms for participative governance

• Portability of all entitlements through cloud

“Digital India is our dream for nation. When I say ‘digital India’ it is not meant for the rich but for those who are poor”…..Said by Narendra Modi.

Challenges Before Digital India

The Government of India entity Bharat Broadband Network Limited which executes the National Optical Fibre Network project will be the custodian of Digital India (DI) project. BBNL had ordered United Telecoms Limited to connect 250,000 villages through GPON to ensure FTTH based broadband. This will provide the first basic setup to achieve towards DI and is expected to be completed by 2017.

Benefits of Digital India

The Government of India has initiated a giant leap forward to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy. DI will help in leveraging India's Globally acclaimed IT competence for the benefit of 120 Crore Indians.

It will help in reducing corruption, getting things done quickly and will help in reducing paper work.

Some of the facilities which would be available through this initiative are Digital Locker, e-education, e-health, Digital Signature and national scholarship portal.

Status of Digital India

Digital India is in the progress mode till the month of November 2015. Thanks to Narendra Modi. The Apex Committee is going to analyse its progress very soon. Media reports have also hinted at development of policies for Digital India very soon.

PM Narendra Modi launches ambitious Digital India mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched the Digital India mission at a grand event in the national capital. The event was attended by the who's who of India Inc and over 10,000 others, including foreign dignitaries.

As part of the initiative, the Prime Minister announced an array of products such as Bharat Net, Digital locker and National Scholarship Portal.

A Digital India book and Digital India policy document were also unveiled by the Prime Minister at the onset of the event at the Indira Gandhi indoor stadium.

The event began with an address of Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who termed the initiative as a tool to "bridge the digital divide of India".

"Digital India programme by the government is a step in the right direction. We will re-arrange existing software for customers," he said.

The Union minister further added that the initiative was incomplete without the Make In India programme, urging corporate leaders to participate in the same.

Later, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani addressed the gathering, calling it a "momentous occasion in the history of modern India". He added that digitisation was changing the way Indians live and work.

The RIL chairman also announced an investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore as part of the initiative, adding that his company would roll out broadband networks across all states.

"Normally Industry moves faster than government but with Digital India, the government has moved faster," said Ambani.

Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla Group also declared that he would invest $7 billion over the next five years in electronics manufacturing and development of smart cities among other initiatives of the government.

Other corporate leaders to address the launch event of Digital India included Wipro chairman Azim Premji, Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, Bharti Airtel's Sunil Bharti Mittal and Anil Ambani of Reliance Group.

Digital India programme aims at transforming the country into a digitally-empowered knowledge economy, and bringing as many as 2.5 villages under broadband connectivity. The highlights of the Digital India programme, worth Rs 1 lakh crore, are digital locker, E-education, E-health and National Scholarship Portal.

Digital India:10 important initiatives launched by Narendra Modi today

1. DIGILocker - This initiative looks to minimize the usage of physical documents. It is a dedicated personal storage space for e-documents as well as Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of e-documents issued by government departments. Individual locker will be linked to the resident’s Aadhaar number, and enable sharing of e-documents across agencies whenever required. The sharing of these e-documents will be done through registered repositories thereby ensuring the authenticity of the documents online, and also minimize the loss and damage of important documents like birth certificate etc.

2. Bharat Net - This initiative will work towards building high-speed digital highways to connect all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of country by next year. This would be the world’s largest rural broadband connectivity project using optical fiber.

3. MyGov app – The PM also launched the mobile version of the MyGov.in website. This platform encourages citizen engagement in governance, and the app will do the same on mobile.

4. eSign – An initiative to eradicate forgery and fraudulent signature, the eSign framework would allow citizens to digitally sign a document online using Aadhaar authentication.

5. National Scholarships Portal – This new service is said to be a one-stop-solution for end-to-end scholarship process right from submission of student application, verification, sanction and disbursal to end beneficiary for all the scholarships provided by the Government of India.

6. Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) app - To further the Swachh Bharat mission, the

government has launched this app and would be used by people and Government organizations.

7. E-education – The program looks to provide high-tech education using technology like smartphones, apps and Internet services. It can also be used to provide education in far-flung areas where it may not be possible for teachers to be present in person. The education can be imparted through virtual means as part of the program.

8. E-health – This initiative aims at providing timely, effective and economical healthcare services to all, especially to the ones that have little access to healthcare services. This service too will be linked to Aadhaar numbers, and will make getting lab reports and OPD appointments easier. The Online Registration System (ORS) under the eHospital application has also been introduced.

This application provides important services such as online registration, payment of fees and appointment, online diagnostic reports, inquiring availability of blood online etc, the government claims. With this initiative, one can skip the hassles of registration and other formalities at hospitals by merely identifying self through the Aadhaar Number, select hospital and department, select date of appointment and get the same through SMS.

9. Next Generation Network (NGN) – This is a BSNL initiative which looks to replace 30 year old exchanges, with this new IP-based technology to manage all types of services like voice, data, multimedia/ video and other types of communication services.

10. Wi-Fi hotspots - BSNL has undertaken large scale deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country for Internet access on smatphones while on-the-go. The initiative has already kicked off with the government offering free Wi-Fi at tourist places like Taj Mahal, and spots at Shimla too.

Why Narendra Modi’s Make In India is indeed a step of a lion

Remember the Independence day speech of Narendra Modi? From the ramparts of Red Fort he had announced,

Let’s resolve to steer the country to one destination. We have it in us to move in that direction.

Come, make in India”, “Come, manufacture in India”. Sell in any country of the world but manufacture here. We have got skill, talent, discipline, and determination to do something. We want to give the world a favourable opportunity that come here, “Come, Make in India” and we will say to the world, from electrical to electronics, “Come, Make in India”, from automobiles to agro value addition “Come, Make in India”, paper or plastic, “Come, Make in India”, satellite or submarine “Come, Make in India”. Our country is powerful. Come, I am giving you an invitation.

And bang! Forty-one days later at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, Modi announced the launch of India’s most ambitious plan to boost manufacturing in the country in the presence of business stalwarts like Mukesh Ambani, Cyrus Mistry, Kumar Mangalam Birla and Azim Premji.

Through Make In India initiative, government will focus on building physical infrastructure as well as creating a digital network to make India a global hub for manufacturing of goods ranging from cars to softwares, satellites to submarines, pharmaceuticals to ports and paper to power.

This initiative is nothing less but a giant leap or the step of a lion. As we write this, the official Facebook page of Make In India has crossed 120K likes and its twitter handle has more than 13K followers, all this, in a day’s time.

Here’s everything about MakeInIndia and why it is a stepping stone towards making India an investment hub.

What is MakeInIndia

Make In India is a new national program designed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub. It contains a raft of proposals designed to urge companies — local and foreign — to invest in India and make the country a manufacturing powerhouse.

Sectors covered

The focus of Make In India programme is on creating jobs and skill enhancement in 25 sectors. These include: automobiles, aviation, chemicals, IT & BPM, pharmaceuticals, construction, defense manufacturing, electrical machinery, food processing, textiles and garments, ports, leather, media and entertainment, wellness, mining, tourism and hospitality, railways, automobile components, renewable energy, mining, bio-technology, space, thermal power, roads and highways and electronics systems.

The logo

The Make In India logo is derived from India’s national emblem. The wheel denotes the peaceful progress and dynamism – a sign from India’s enlightened past, pointing the way to a vibrant future. The prowling lion stands for strength, courage, tenacity and wisdom – values that are every bit as Indian today as they have ever been.

What comes in the package

Global investors have been unsparing in their criticism about complex rules and bureaucratic red tape that delay investment decisions. India ranks 134 out of 189 countries in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index in 2014. As part of Make In India initiative, foreign investment caps in construction will be eased to enable greater participation in the NDA government’s 100 smart cities project and affordable housing. The initiative will also target top companies across sectors in identified countries.

The Prime Minister said

“FDI” should be understood as “First Develop India” along with “Foreign Direct Investment.”

He urged investors not to look at India merely as a market, but instead see it as an opportunity.

Major highlights of the Make In India plans are as follows:

1. Invest India cell: An investor facilitation cell set up by the government will act as the first reference point for guiding foreign investors on all aspects of regulatory and policy issues and to assist them in obtaining regulatory clearances. The cell will also provide assistance to foreign investors from the time of their arrival in the country to the time of their departure. The information & facts that potential investors need for each sector have been compiled in brochures.

2. Consolidated services and faster security clearances: All central government services are being integrated with an e-Biz single window online portal while states have been advised to introduce self-certification. The ministry of home affairs have been asked to give all security clearances to investment proposals within 3 months.

3. Dedicated portal for business queries: A dedicated cell has been created to answer queries from business entities through a newly created web portal ([http://www.makeinindia.com). The back-end support team of the cell would answer specific queries within 72 hours. The portal also boasts of an exhaustive list of FAQs answers.

4. Interactions with the users/visitors: A pro-active approach will be deployed to track visitors for their geographical location, interest and real time user behaviour. Subsequent visits will be customised for the visitor based on the information collected. Visitors registered on the website or raising queries will be followed up with relevant information and newsletter.

5. Easing policies and laws: A vast number of defence items have been de-licensed and the validity of industrial license has been extended to three years.

With a view to providing flexibility in working hours and increased intake of apprentices for on the job training, the government plans to introduce a single labour law for small industries by December. An advisory has been sent to all departments/state governments to simplify and rationalise regulatory environment (which includes online filing of all returns in a unified form).

Why the need to Make In India

Narendra Modi stated the reason and motive to launch Make In India very clearly,

It is important for the purchasing power of the common man to increase, as this would further boost demand, and hence spur development, in addition to benefiting investors. The faster people are pulled out of poverty and brought into the middle class, the more opportunity will there be for global business. Therefore, investors from abroad need to create jobs. Cost effective manufacturing and a handsome buyer – one who has purchasing power – are both required. More employment means more purchasing power.

Modi had felt a mood of gloom among India’s business community in the last few years, due to lack of clarity on policy issues. He said,

“Trust is essential for investors to feel secure. Let us begin with trust; if there is an issue, Government can intervene. Trust too can be a transformative force. Development and growth-oriented employment is the government`s responsibility.”

What does future look like

To the expression “Look East,” Modi added “Link West”, emphasizing on the necessity of a global vision. Referring to his vision of waste water management and solid waste management in 500 towns across India through public private partnership, he said that Mission Swachh Bharat and “waste to wealth” could lead to good revenue models for business as well.

The Prime Minister believes in the infrastructure of the future – including i-ways besides highways – and mentioned port led development, optical fibre networks, gas grids and water grids. Digital India mission would ensure that Government processes remained in tune with corporate processes.

He said,

Nobody can question the talent of our people, especially after the Mangalyaan”

Make In India’s success relies a lot on the fate of the newer companies and statups. A mission which can go either way at this stage, was envisioned by Narendra Modi as follows,

If each one of our millions of youngsters resolves to manufacture at least one such item, India can become a net exporter of goods. I, therefore, urge upon the youth, in particular our small entrepreneurs that they would never compromise, at least on two counts. First, zero defect and, second again zero effect. We should manufacture goods in such a way that they carry zero defect, that our exported goods are never returned to us. We should manufacture goods with zero effect that they should not have a negative impact on the environment.