Dishita Singh

In 2015, the Government of India launched its ambitious Digital India programme with the hope of turning the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The plan was simple yet powerful: use technology to close governance gaps, make public services accessible to all, and empower every citizen equally.

But almost ten years later, an important question remains: has Digital India truly fulfilled its promise of inclusion and empowerment? Or has it, despite its good intentions, unintentionally made the divide between the connected and the disconnected even wider?

This article tries to reflect on these questions – not just by describing digital platforms or policies – but by digging deeper into how policy design, governance choices, and social realities have shaped the real outcomes of Digital India.

Digital India: A Story of Progress or Paradox?

Digital India is both a success story and a paradox. On one hand, the programme has made it easier for millions of people to access services, reduce corruption, and save time and costs. On the other hand, a large number of people – especially in rural areas, women, SC/ST groups, the elderly, and the economically weak – remain left out of these benefits.

This contradiction forces us to ask: is Digital India becoming a bridge that connects all citizens equally, or is it quietly acting as a barrier that benefits only the connected and privileged?

The Promise: Tools and Vision of Digital India

The government built Digital India on three big ideas:

• Universal Digital Infrastructure – ensuring every citizen has access to the internet and a digital identity (Aadhaar).
• On-Demand Services – allowing people to apply for certificates, pay bills, and receive benefits instantly through platforms like DigiLocker and UMANG.
• Citizen Empowerment – helping people actively participate in the digital economy.

Some of the key tools launched under this vision include:

• DigiLocker – A digital storage platform where people can save important documents like Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, driving licenses, and school certificates. This was meant to reduce paperwork and make official documents easily available anytime.
• UMANG App – An app that combines over 100 government services in one place. Whether you want to file income tax, apply for a passport, or check your provident fund balance – you can do it from UMANG.
• JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) – This combination aims to connect every Indian’s bank account with their Aadhaar and mobile number. This way, government benefits like gas subsidies or pensions could be sent directly to their bank accounts. This was meant to cut corruption and delays.

Achievements: Speed, Efficiency, and Transparency

There is no doubt that these platforms have delivered some real achievements:

• Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) through JAM have reduced corruption and ensured that subsidies and pensions reach the right people –  A Press Information Bureau release (April 2025) cites a BlueKraft Digital Foundation assessment stating that India’s Direct Benefit Transfer system, enabled by the JAM (Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile) framework, has plugged ₹3.48 lakh crore in leakages to date. It also notes that subsidy allocations fell from 16 % to 9 % of government expenditure.
• According to a NITI Aayog report (2021), DBT alone saved the government nearly ₹2 lakh crore by reducing fraud and delays. Services have reached citizens faster than ever before. The same NITI Aayog report highlights that DBT was “the primary mode” for delivering government services in FY 2020–21, reflecting improvements in speed, transparency, and accountability .

But Who Is Still Left Behind and Why?

Despite the progress, a large section of India’s population is yet to benefit from Digital India. And the reasons are not just technical – they are deeply social and political.

1. The Rural-Urban Digital Divide

As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), rural internet access stands at only 38.33%, compared to 104.77% in urban areas . For most rural citizens, Digital India’s promises remain out of reach.

Even where there is connectivity, problems like unstable electricity and weak mobile networks make digital services unreliable.

2. Low Digital Literacy

Many Indians, especially the elderly and first-time users, do not know how to use smartphones or government apps. A study (Rasekaba et al., 2022) found that older adults in rural areas face major struggles with complicated interfaces and language barriers.

According to IAMAI-Kantar (2024), 70% of new internet users prefer content in their local language – but most government apps are not available in regional languages.

3. Gender and Caste Gaps

Gender remains a key problem. The GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report (2024) shows that 51% of rural women do not own mobile phones. Women, SC/ST communities, and poorer sections are less likely to own smartphones or Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, making it harder for them to benefit from schemes.

Even those who have Aadhaar often face problems like fingerprint mismatches or data errors. In some cases, these failures have blocked access to food or pensions – leading to tragic consequences, as seen in Jharkhand (National Herald, 2018).

4. Policy Design Flaws

Exclusion is not just about lack of technology – it is also about how policies are designed.

• Top-down approach –  Most platforms were designed without asking local communities what they need. Citizens are treated as passive users, not active participants. In Marginalized Aadhaar (Panigrahi, 2021), the author critiques the Aadhaar ecosystem as a highly centralized, top-down system built without meaningful input from local communities. Interviews with marginalized groups reveal how many enrolled without understanding or consent, seen as passive recipients rather than active contributors
• Cutting physical services –  As digital platforms expanded, physical centres (like PDS shops or pension counters) shrank, making it tough for those who are not digitally skilled.
• Privacy risks – Aadhaar and other databases raise fears about data misuse or state surveillance. People are becoming data subjects – not empowered citizens (Panigrahi, 2021). According to the Supreme Court’s dissent, Aadhaar acts as a “central unifying feature” that can link varied personal data such as movement, finances, and medical records – raising serious surveillance risks.

5. Private Actors and Corporate Control: A Silent Takeover?

While the Digital India campaign is led by the government, private players now run much of the infrastructure behind it. Aadhaar is authenticated by third-party agencies. Tech giants host government data on cloud servers. Payment systems rely on private apps like Google Pay or PhonePe.

This creates what some researchers call “surveillance capitalism” – a system where citizens’ data is collected, stored, and analysed not just by the state, but by corporations for profit.

Panigrahi (2021) warns of data colonialism, where public data becomes a resource exploited by a few companies, while citizens lose control. For example, telecom companies benefit from Digital India’s push, but without being held accountable for the gaps in rural connectivity.

If this continues, Digital India risks becoming less about citizen empowerment and more about data extraction, profit-making, and top-down control.

Theoretical Reflections: Capabilities, Digital Divide, and Platform Power

• Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach –  As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen explains, development is not just about providing resources or technology – it is about expanding people’s actual freedoms and choices. Just having access to a smartphone or an app is not enough if a person doesn’t have the skills, confidence, or awareness to use it well.

For example, giving a farmer a digital portal to check crop prices will not help if they cannot read, use the app, or trust the system. True empowerment comes when people have both the tools and the capability to use them in ways that improve their lives. Without this freedom to act, technology remains an unused or confusing burden rather than a benefit.

• Digital Divide Theory –  The problem of inequality in Digital India is not simply about who has a mobile phone or an internet connection – it is deeper than that. The Digital Divide Theory points out that differences in digital access are also shaped by things like education levels, language barriers, gender, caste, and income.

For example, a rural woman may have a phone in her house, but if it is owned and controlled by her husband, she does not have real access. Or a Dalit household may have a bank account linked to Aadhaar but face authentication failures due to old fingerprints or clerical errors.

So, the divide is not just technical – it reflects the wider social and economic inequalities that exist in the country. Unless these are addressed, digital inclusion will remain incomplete.

• Platform Governance Risks –  A growing concern in Digital India is the shift of essential public services onto state or private digital platforms – like Aadhaar-based systems or apps managed by big tech companies. This can give these platforms too much control over citizens’ data, transactions, and personal information.

Some scholars, like Panigrahi (2021), call this “data colonialism” – where citizens become data subjects rather than empowered users. Their personal details, habits, and choices are stored, analyzed, and sometimes misused by either corporations or the government.The risk here is that instead of serving the people, these digital systems could start serving the interests of the state or market forces, reducing individual privacy, freedom, and control.

Without strong safeguards like data protection laws, informed consent, and accountability, platform power can deepen inequality and public distrust rather than build empowerment.

What Must Be Done: Solutions

For Digital India to truly empower all, changes are needed-not only in apps but also in society, policy, and design.

1. Improve Infrastructure in Rural India

The first and most obvious gap is the lack of reliable digital infrastructure in rural areas. Without good mobile network coverage, broadband internet, and electricity, digital platforms like UMANG or DigiLocker simply cannot reach their intended users.

As per the TRAI Performance Indicators Report (2023), rural internet penetration remains below 40%, compared to over 100% tele-density in urban areas. This means a large part of rural India either does not have reliable internet or faces poor speeds and frequent disruptions.

Moreover, many villages still face regular power cuts, which make even mobile-based services hard to access. Public Wi-Fi hotspots, which the government promised under BharatNet, are still unavailable in many panchayats.

To close this digital gap, the government must prioritise rural connectivity infrastructure – not just in highways and electricity but also in last-mile broadband, mobile towers, and local digital kiosks.

2. Push for Digital Literacy

Having a phone or internet does not automatically mean a person can use digital services properly. Digital literacy remains low, especially among elderly people, women in rural areas, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST).

A report by NITI Aayog (2025) highlights Kerala’s Let’s Go Digital initiative model, where the government ran local-level digital education programmes through schools and self-help groups. This enabled even housewives and senior citizens to use basic apps and online platforms.

Such initiatives must be scaled nationally, with customised digital skill training, especially in states where digital literacy is lagging. Without this, even the best platforms will remain unused or misused.

3. Support Regional Languages

Most government digital platforms are still offered in English or Hindi, which excludes millions who prefer their regional languages.

According to the IAMAI-Kantar Report 2024, nearly 70% of India’s new internet users prefer content in their local language. If government apps do not reflect this, these users will find services confusing or inaccessible.

This is not just a technology problem; it’s a policy one. Language localisation must be mandatory for public digital services, covering all scheduled languages to truly reach India’s linguistic diversity.

4. Design for Inclusion

Even for those with smartphones, poor app design can exclude users. Complex menus, small fonts, and English-heavy interfaces make government services hard to use for elderly people, visually impaired persons, and first-time users.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2023), about 2.2 billion people worldwide have vision impairments, many of whom live in low and middle-income countries like India. Apps like DigiLocker and UMANG need to include voice guidance, regional audio options, larger text, easy-to-understand symbols, and offline modes for users with limited data.

Designing for the ‘average urban user’ leaves millions outside the digital net. Accessibility features must be built into every stage of development, not added as an afterthought.

5. Keep Physical Services Available

As India digitises public services, there is a risk that physical service centres like ration shops, post offices, and pension counters may be neglected or shut down, assuming that everyone will ‘go digital’. This assumption is harmful.

For the elderly, persons with disabilities, the very poor, or those with no phone or bank account, physical access remains essential. The government’s Common Service Centres (CSCs) scheme is a good step but needs wider reach, better staffing, and proper funding (MeitY, 2022).

A truly inclusive system will ensure that both digital and physical options remain open, so no citizen is left behind because they cannot go online.

6. Fix Aadhaar & JAM Grievances

A large number of grievances related to Aadhaar and JAM schemes remain unresolved or poorly addressed. Problems such as failed biometric authentication, incorrect linking of bank accounts, fingerprint mismatches, or delay in subsidy payments are widespread.

According to the UIDAI Annual Report 2023, Aadhaar-related complaints remain one of the most common digital grievances in the country. Yet, most citizens do not know how to file or follow up on complaints easily, especially in rural or semi-urban areas.

For Digital India to build trust, grievance systems must be made user-friendly, local, and fast – possibly integrated into CSCs or panchayat offices, where people can get help without needing to travel to district capitals or depend on private cyber cafes.

7. Protect Data and Consent

Aadhaar and Digital India platforms collect vast amounts of personal data – biometrics, bank details, transaction records – but India’s laws on data protection and privacy remain weak and incomplete.

As Panigrahi (2021) argues in his study, such databases, if not carefully regulated, can become tools for state surveillance or corporate exploitation, rather than citizen empowerment.

A rights-based framework for data privacy must be made law. Users should be told what data is collected, how it is used, and given the choice to consent or withdraw, without losing access to essential services.

Without these safeguards, trust in Digital India will remain fragile, especially among those already distrustful of government control.

Conclusion

Digital India has certainly changed governance in India. It has made services faster, reduced corruption, and improved delivery. But at the same time, it has exposed and sometimes widened old gaps based on caste, gender, income, and geography.

If the goal is true digital empowerment, we must go beyond simply building apps or issuing Aadhaar numbers. Social change, education, local language access, privacy safeguards, and hybrid service models (digital + physical) are equally important.

Otherwise, Digital India may become a programme that works only for the connected few, leaving millions behind.

For Digital India to become a real bridge – not a barrier – technology must walk side by side with justice, inclusion, and citizen empowerment.

References

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