Union Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan

The Union Cabinet on 8 February 2017 approved the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA). The programme aims at making 6 crore rural households digitally literate.

The outlay for the project is Rs 2351.38 crore. It targets ushering in digital literacy in rural India by March 2019.

The project is in line with the announcement made by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2016-17.

Key highlights of PMGDISHA

• The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan is expected to be one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world.

• It is being initiated under Digital India Programme.

• Under the programme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in the Fiscal Year 2016-17; 275 lakh in the Fiscal Year 2017-18; and 300 lakh in the Fiscal Year 2018-19.

• In addition, each of the 250000 Gram Panchayats would be expected to register an average of 200-300 candidates.

• The scheme will be implemented under the overall supervision of Ministry of Electronics and IT in active collaboration with States/UTs through their designated State Implementing Agencies, District e-Governance Society (DeGS), and so on.

Background

The 71st NSSO Survey on Education 2014 indicates that only 6 per cent of rural households have a computer. This indicates that more than 15 crore rural households do not have computers. Moreover, a significant number of these households are likely to be digitally illiterate.

The PMGDISHA would cover 6 crore households in rural areas to make them digitally literate. This, in turn, would empower the citizens by providing them access to information, knowledge and skills for operating computers/digital access devices.