Parliament Question: Implementation of Digital India Scheme

† O.I.H. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *71 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 04.02.2026 IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGITAL INDIA SCHEME † *71. SHRI SANATAN PANDEY: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) the status of implementation of Digital India Scheme in the country; (b) whether all the villages and remote towns across the country have been connected with basic communications/internet services; (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor along with the time by which the entire nation is likely to be connected with the said services; and (d) whether the Government is providing basic internet facilities to all villages to educate the youth of the country particularly the rural youth keeping in view the online classes and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN THE REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *71 FOR 04.02.2026 REGARDING “IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGITAL INDIA SCHEME” ****** (a) to (d): In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision to democratise technology and empower citizens, the Government of India had launched the Digital India programme in July, 2015. The overall goal is to ensure that digital technologies improve the life of every citizen, expand India’s digital economy, and create investment and employment opportunities in India. At its core, the programme promotes three interconnected goals: strengthening digital infrastructure, delivering government services digitally, and empowering citizens through digital literacy and employment. Details of some of the key initiatives are as follows: ● The JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) is a transformative initiative by the Government of India designed to foster financial inclusion, improve governance, and ensure efficient delivery of welfare benefits and public services ● Unified Payments Interface (UPI): UPI has revolutionized digital transactions across the country. UPI has empowered millions of individuals and small businesses in rural and remote areas to make fast, secure and low-cost digital payments, significantly advancing financial inclusion. UPI is now live in over eight countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius, Qatar making India a global trailblazer in digital payments. UPI is now the world’s biggest digital payments system. • UPI serves 6.5 crore merchants, and connects 685 banks on one platform, making it the world’s largest digital payment system. • UPI powers 81% of India’s digital payments and nearly 49% of global real-time digital payments. ● Aadhaar: Aadhaar is the world’s largest digital identity programme that provides biometric and demographic-based unique digital identity. 143+ crore Aadhaar IDs have been generated so far. ● DigiLocker: DigiLocker has provided anytime access to authentic digital documents from original issuer for the common citizen. More than 65.01 crore users are registered with DigiLocker to avail its services and more than 950+ crore documents issued from 2412 issuers onboarded on the platform. ● UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is a Government of India digital platform that provides single-window access to multiple government services from the Centre, States, and local bodies. Presently, 2,390+ (Central - 872; State - 1518) are being offered through UMANG platform. ● Government e-Marketplace (GeM): GeM enables online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs. It has over 1.68 lakh primary buyers. ● Common Services Centres – CSCs are offering government and business services in digital mode enhancing last-mile connectivity in rural areas through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). Over 800 services are being delivered through CSCs. As of December, 2025, 5.87 lakh CSCs arefunctional across the country (in rural and urban areas), out of which 4.57 lakh CSCs are functional at the Gram Panchayat level (rural). ● Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT): DBT uses Aadhaar to deliver welfare payments directly and remove fake beneficiaries. So far, Rs. 48+ lakh crore has been transferred through DBT. Majority of the disbursement of Governments’ welfare schemes is being carried out through DBT. ● e-Sanjeevani – e-Sanjeevani facilitates quick and easy access to doctors and medical specialists directly from your smartphone. The platform has served more than 44.60 crore patients across the country. ● MyGov: MyGov is a Government of India’s Citizen Engagement Platform which collaborates with multiple Government bodies/ Ministries to engage people in policy formulation and seeks the opinion of people on issues/ topics of public interest and welfare. Presently, over 6.08+ crore citizens are registered with MyGov, participating in various activities hosted on MyGov platform. ● Jeevan Pramaan: Jeevan Pramaan is an Aadhaar biometric-enabled digital service that allows Central, State, and other Government pensioners to conveniently submit Digital Life Certificates (DLCs) from anywhere in India, including their homes, using Aadhaar-based authentication. Over 11.96 crore Digital Life certificates have been processed since 2014. ● PMGDISHA: The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was initiated to reach digital literacy in 6 crore rural households (one person per household) nationwide. As against 6 crore, 6.39 crore individuals were trained across the country, making it one of the world’s largest digital literacy initiatives. ● FutureSkills PRIME: To bridge the industry skill gap, MeitY has initiated a programme titled “FutureSkills PRIME” jointly with National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) aimed at re-skilling/up-skilling of candidate in new/emerging technologies. Under the FutureSkills Prime program, there are over 500+ courses & 2000+ digital fluency pathways offered on the platform. More than 16.20+ lakh candidates have enrolled in various courses comprising of approximately 41% women learners and candidates from 720 tier-2 and tier-3 cities have enrolled. ● National Knowledge Network (NKN) carries the digital-traffic of National/state Data Centers (NDCs/SDCs), State-Wide Area Networks (SWANs) and provides connectivity to various Digital India initiatives, and carry digital-traffic of various G2G (Government to Government) and G2C (Government to Citizen) services, District Connectivity, etc. NKN also inter-connects all knowledge institutions across the country through high-speed data communication network to encourage sharing of resources and collaborative research. At present, 1,869 institutional links and 681 links to NIC District Centres are operational under NKN, supporting the secure and reliable flow of digital governance data across the country. Basic communications/ internet services: Internet access is available in the country including rural areas through the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) through wireless mobile and fixed wireline broadband. Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India has taken numerous initiatives to enhance internet connectivity in India through mobile connectivity and optical fibre rollout. As of November, 2025, there are 123.40+ crore Telephone subscribers and 100.30+ crore broadband subscribers in the country (as per TRAI). Details of the major projects are as follows: • BharatNet: As of December 2025; 2,14,904 Gram Panchayats (GPs) have been made service- ready under the BharatNet project. Further, Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) has also been approved by the Government for up-gradation of existing network of BharatNet.• Under 4G Saturation Project and other Mobile projects, 23,694 mobile towers have been commissioned in the country to cover uncovered remote regions. • Commissioning of submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) on 10.08.2020 between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (2312 Km) and commissioning of Submarine OFC connectivity between Mainland (Kochi) and Lakshadweep Islands (1869 km) (Total 11 Islands; Kavaratti, Kalpeni, Agatti, Amini, Androth, Minicoy, Bangaram, Bitra, Chetlat, Kiltan and Kadmath) on 03.01.2024. Creation of 225 Km OFC network in Lakshadweep Islands for provision of FTTH & other services. These optical fibre cable projects have facilitated faster roll out of fixed line broadband/internet services, mobile services (4G/5G) and other high-speed data services in the Islands. • As per Registrar General of India (RGI), out of a total of 6,44,131 villages in the country, 6,34,955 villages have mobile coverage. Further, 6,32,058 villages have internet connectivity (3G/4G mobile coverage). *****