Parliament Question: Outcomes achieved under Flagship Digital Empowerment Schemes

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4185 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 18.03.2026 OUTCOMES ACHIEVED UNDER FLAGSHIP DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT SCHEMES 4185. SHRI GANESH SINGH: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) the quantitative outcomes achieved under flagship digital empowerment schemes— namely PMGDISHA, UMANG, and DigiLocker—including coverage, user adoption, service transactions and document issuances till date; (b) the qualitative improvements observed as a result of these initiatives such as enhanced digital literacy, ease of access to public services, reduction in paperwork and transaction time, transparency and inclusion of rural, elderly and first-time digital users; (c) the manner in which these schemes have directly benefited citizens in terms of cost savings, convenience, portability of documents, grievance reduction and last-mile delivery of services; and (d) whether any impact assessments or user-satisfaction metrics have been undertaken to guide further strengthening of these platforms? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (d): In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision to democratize technology and empower citizens, the Government of India launched the Digital India programme in July 2015. Through this programme, Government has bridged the digital divide using pronged strategy: • Increasing access to internet, • Making internet affordable, • Providing digital public infrastructure, • Enhancing the digital literacy These efforts have collectively enabled wider access to digital services and opportunities, thereby fostering inclusive and equitable digital growth across the country. It can be seen from the following statistics: # 2014-15 2024-25 RemarksTotal broadband subscribers 25 Cr 103 Cr 400% increase in subscribers Total numbers of Mobile Base 7.9 Lakh 29.50 lakh Increase of about 273% Transceiver Stations (BTS) villages covered with mobile ~ 5.27 6.35 lakh Increase of about 20.5% (near- connectivity (2G/3G/4G) lakh universal coverage) Total optical fiber laid 358 kms 6,92,676 OFC laid increased by about Kms 1,935 times Average monthly data consumption 61.66 ~ 25.25 GB Data consumption increased by ~ per subscriber MB 419 times Cost of data per Gb Rs 269 ~ Rs 7.9 97% reduction in cost Digital India program has brought fundamental change in the people’s lives: • More than 143 Cr Aadhar numbers have been issued providing digital identity to Indian residents. • Aadhar was critical in developing the unified payment interface system. India's UPI is now the world's largest digital payment system with more than 46 Cr users and 685 banks. UPI powers 81% of India’s digital payments and nearly 49% of global real-time digital payments. • Using Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile (JAM) Trinity, subsidies and benefits worth Rs. 49.82 lakh crore have been transferred directly to the citizens. Specific details of PMGDISHA, DigiLocker and UMANG: DigiLocker: DigiLocker enables citizens to access and share digitally issued documents anytime and anywhere, eliminating the need to carry physical copies and facilitating seamless verification by authorities. DigiLocker has provided digital access to authentic digital documents from original issuer for the common citizen. Currently, 67 crore users are registered on the platform. More than 967 crore documents have been issued using DigiLocker. UMANG: provides a single unified interface to access multiple Government services, enabling citizens to avail services from their homes, thereby saving time and travel costs.UMANG mobile application for all government services is operational and offers more than 2,446 services. It has more than 10.51 Cr registered users and more than 741 crore transactions have been carried out so far. PMGDISHA: Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was launched in 2017 to ensure digital literacy. The scheme concluded on 31 March 2024. The scheme was one of st the world’s largest digital literacy initiatives. Against the target of training 6 Cr people, more than 6.39 Crore persons were trained nationwide. *******