The report by Lirnasia, a regional think tank working on digital policy issues – in partnership with an economic policy think tank, ICRIER – showed that 64 percent of all households with enrolled school children had Internet access while the remaining 36 percent did not.
The research involved a survey of 7,000 households across India, including 350 villages and wards. Among households with the Internet, 31 percent of children were likely to have received some form of distance learning, while only 8 percent of households without the Internet said they had received some sort of distance learning.
At the same time, a recent national survey conducted by Lirnacea showed that Internet usage has more than doubled in the past four years, and that Covid-related shutdowns have contributed significantly to the growing demand for connectivity.
Of the population aged 15-65, 49 percent said they had access to the Internet, while only 19 percent of the population aged 15-65 claimed it at the end of 2017. This translates to 61 percent of households in 2021. are using the Internet, compared to 21 percent in 2017.
It showed that in 2020 and 2021 more than 130 million users came online. Of the nearly 80 million who started using the Internet in 2020, 43 percent, or more than 34 million, said they started doing so because of the COVID crisis.
Helani Galpaya, CEO, LIRNEasia, said in a statement, “India is making great progress if we only think about connecting people. But systematic and structural change is needed before the real benefits of ‘Digital India’ reach the people. needed.”
“During the pandemic there has been a greater uptake of digital services than trends predicted. This is a positive. What is equally clear, however, is that the benefits of increased digitization are disproportionately spread across geography and population. The trickle down towards income groups and backward areas has not been given and will require policy support,” said Dr Rajat Kathuria, Senior Visiting Professor at ICRIER.
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