Parliament Question: Leakage of National Policies to Foreign Individuals

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5518 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 25.03.2026 LEAKAGE OF NATIONAL POLICIES TO FOREIGN INDIVIDUALS 5518. SHRI ANAND BHADAURIA: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government had authorised former/retired bureaucrats to discuss Digital India Mission in 2014 with foreign individuals/companies well before the launch of the said Mission in 2015 and if so, the details thereof; (b) if not, whether the Government is aware that few former bureaucrats had discussed the Mission with foreign individuals/companies well before it's launch in 2014; (c) if so, whether inquiry has been initiated for leakage of national policies to foreign individuals; and (d) if not, the reasons for compromise with national interests? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (d): Government of India launched Digital India mission in July 2015 to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. In the last 11 years, Digital India mission has brought fundamental change in digital governance in the country. • More than 144 Cr Aadhar have been issued providing digital identity for resident Indians. • Under PM Jan Dhan Yojana, more than 57.86 Cr bank accounts have been opened. • India’s UPI is now world’s largest digital payment system with more than 694 banks and Rs. 28.47 Million Crore in annualised transactions. • More than 68.11+ crore users are registered with DigiLocker to avail its services and more than 950+ crore documents issued from 2501 issuers onboarded on the platform. • 5.54 lakh CSCs are functional across the country (in rural and urban areas), out of which 4.32 lakh CSCs are functional at the Gram Panchayat level (rural). • Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) is providing over 2,446 government services (872 Central and 1,574 State) to citizens. • e-Sanjeevani enables easy access to doctors via smartphones, serving over 45.85 crore patients through 138,593 Health & Wellness Centres and 18,600 hubs, supported by 231,929+ telemedicine practitioners. • Government e-Marketplace (GeM) enables online procurement of common goods and services for government entities, with 1,36,205 primary buyers and 2,09,466 secondary buyers onboard, covering 10,979 product and 356 service categories. • National Agriculture Market (eNAM) provides market access, real-time prices, and post- harvest infrastructure, with 1.79 crore farmers registered and 1,522 mandis integrated across 23 States and 4 UTs. Government undertakes extensive consultations before finalising policies. However, this doesn't mean that confidential information is shared with anybody. *******