Day 68 – Q 2.Digital India is the only way for citizen empowerment, which can bring government transparency and accountability to citizens. Do you agree? Substantiate your views.

2. Digital India is the only way for citizen empowerment, which can bring government transparency and accountability to citizens. Do you agree? Substantiate your views. 

डिजिटल इंडिया नागरिक सशक्तिकरण का एकमात्र तरीका है, जो नागरिकों के लिए सरकारी पारदर्शिता और जवाबदेही ला सकता है। क्या आप सहमत हैं? अपने विचारों की पुष्टि करें।

Introduction:

The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. A Digital interface is convenient to both the government as well as the public also where the main agenda of this scheme is that the government of India wants to build every family and every human beings into a digitally empowered one’s.

Body

• Digital India is a plan by the Government of India to ensure that Government services are made available to citizens electronically by improving online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity.
• Technology will be the enabler for the citizen to transcend the boundaries of departments and ministries, and provide a single platform for interaction with its citizens, thus promoting participatory governance and increased transparency and revolutionizing public service delivery.
• Digital India differs from previous efforts as it provides a combined vision and a comprehensive execution plan, bringing together various departments as well as existing and new programs that are monitored and influenced centrally by the government. 
• Technology is key to the vision of a Digital India. Social Media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud are the foundations that will enable the Digital India visions of providing “governance and services on demand” and “digitally empowering citizens” and support the social inclusion schemes being launched by the government. 
• To ensure the success of its initiatives in the digital space, the government will have to take steps across multiple functional areas, some of which are outlined below:
  • Regulatory framework
  • Effective implementation
  • Budget constraint
  • Bridge the digital divide
  • Security and privacy
• The limitations involved in the exponential growth of Digital India can be classified into two categories namely Technical and non-technical – 
  • Technical Problems: These are the following some technical problems in reaping the full benefits of service provision under Digital India
    • Technical illiteracy
    • Infrastructure
    • Recognition of applications
    • Security and privacy
    • Authentication
  • Non-technical Problems: India is a large country which has rural areas population approximately 70% of their total population. These are the following some non-technical problems – 
    • Population
    • Services are not accessible easily
    • Lack of awareness in people
    • Implementation Cost
    • Language Dominance

Consequently, Digital India cannot be the only way for citizen empowerment, which can bring government transparency and accountability to citizens, some other ways include:

• EMPOWER CITIZENS – Give some authority and power in the decision-making process to citizens closest to the issues, as they can provide insights on funding allocations and cultural issues, and help develop community partnerships. 
• DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY – For citizen engagement to truly work, government must create a comprehensive communications strategy.
• PROVIDE INCENTIVES – For citizen engagement to really work, there needs to be incentives for both citizens and government employees.
• PROVIDE SUFFICIENT STAFFING, RESOURCES AND SUCCESS METRICS – Clear goals, objectives and measurements must be identified to track citizen engagement initiatives, and proper staffing and resources must be allocated to the initiative.
• Multiple citizen – based approaches to accountability which can interact with and strengthen state-based approaches, Going beyond technical, ‘accountancy’ approaches, Involving empowered citizens as monitors and watchdogs of public services.

Conclusion

To realize the vision of promoting inclusive growth through empowerment of citizens, it is important to reach out to citizens in the remotest of locations and make them part of India’s growth story. Globally, technology has been the greatest enabler in causing disruptive change. India’s story is no different, and the use of digital technologies to educate and empower citizens is being seen as a game-changer.