India’s Digital Reforms and Inclusive Growth: Prospects with Retrospect

Technology has made its presence felt in almost every sector that motivated India to shift to the paradigm of Digital India. July 1, 2015 marked the beginning of era of digitalization in India with the aim of providing government services to the citizens electronically. The initiative also includes plans to bridge the gap between the urban haves and rural have nots. Implementation and success of Digital India depends on three core components- the creation of digital infrastructure, delivering services digitally and most importantly digital literacy. In the new millennium, digital is no longer just about computers and the Internet but also about mobile phones, social networking, augmented virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI), mobile apps and much more. It has revolutionized the socioeconomic and geopolitical sphere from entertainment to commerce, education to health and transport to leisure. It is positively assumed that paperless technology will lead to sustainable development. It is also expected that with the ongoing digital drive the number of users opting for online banking will reach 150 million by 2020. Now the question arises, in a country which is linguistically and ethnically diversified, literacy rate is in the battle field, gender discrimination still prevails, laws and rules are bypassed, cyber security is a recent concept, rural-urban gap is huge, economic disparity is high; is digitalization a distant dream? The paper seeks to analyze the problems and prospects of Digital India. It also interprets how overcoming bottlenecks like electricity, telephone (mobile or equivalent gadgets), network connectivity, management of e-waste and the hurdles of developing agrarian economy will help to foster the benefits to every corner in the country and endorse inclusive growth.