Digital India completes 6 years: 2020s will be India's techade, says Modi; key highlights of PM's speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said that India’s proven tech prowess presents massive opportunity for the country, and exuded confidence that this decade will be “India’s techade”. Why is this relevant? The prime minister made the remarks while interacting with beneficiaries of the Digital India programme on completion of six years of government’s flagship initiative. Modi spoke - via video conference - to beneficiaries of various schemes of Digital India programme, including Diksha, eNAM, eSanjeevani solution for telemedicine, DigiBunai and PM SVANidhi scheme. The digital India initiative was launched with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The programme was started on 1 July, 2015. What else did Modi say at the sixth Digital India anniversary? While addressing the beneficiaries of the Digital India programme, Modi listed out the opportunities that growth in internet and big data presents for the country. He also highligted that India needs to be conscious of its responsibilities as a data powerhouse and noted that work is underway on all aspects of data protection. Here are the key points of what the PM during the event:

• “Data and demographic dividend present a massive opportunity for India. Together, we will be successful in making this decade India’s techade’,” Modi said.
• The prime minister spoke of the critical role that technology had played during the pandemic to ensure continuity of education, access to healthcare, and other citizen services.
• Digital solutions created by India during COVID-19 pandemic are being acknowledged globally, he said, adding that contact tracing app, Aarogya Setu, has played a key role in containing the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
• DigiLocker is one of the most wonderful examples of Digital India programme, the prime minister added.
• “In our country, on one side there’s a zeal for innovation and on the other, there’s a passion to adopt those innovations quickly,” Modi said.
• Six years of Digital India programme marks rapid strides that the country has taken in adoption of technology, he added.

What is Digital India?

• Digital India is a Rs 1,13,000-crore flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy
• Since the mid-1990s, the e-governance initiatives in India took a broader dimension with an emphasis on citizen-centric services
• Among the major focus of e-governance was railway computerisation, land record computerisation, etc, which then slowly percolated to the states to include other facets of governance within the digital purview

With inputs from PTI