New Delhi: India has a sizeable number of internet users, but according to NITI Aayog, inequality in digital access is getting in the way of inclusion and equity, which needs to be assessed.
The federal policy think tank said that although more people in India have access to the Internet than the entire US population that uses the Internet, this remains a question. Nearly half of the Indian population does not have access to the internet, NITI Aayog announced its plan to study how barriers to digital literacy can be overcome even as the country undergoes demographic and technological change. Have you been
“Most of the internet users are in the urban educated classes. This situation shows that most of the Indians are still taken aback by the information technology revolution. With so much disparity in digital access and literacy, it is hard to aspire to inclusion and equality… India is expected to have the largest working age population, which requires rapid job creation. Digital literacy has become an important medium of communication with global citizens,” NITI Aayog said in a communication posted on its website.
According to the think tank, India, like other developing countries, needs to be given enough thrust to overcome the challenges of exclusion, poverty and inequality. It said that although 65.07% of the country’s population lives in rural areas, digital penetration has gained momentum in the past few years, thanks to one of the cheapest internet rates globally.
The think tank said it was launching a study on the ‘status of digital literacy in the country, barriers and way forward’ to identify opportunities and challenges faced by India to bridge the prevailing digital divide.
NITI Aayog has been playing an important role in the policy making efforts of the Central Government, especially in areas such as increasing the share of manufacturing in the economy, investment in infrastructure, Sustainable Development Goals, electric mobility and sustainable agriculture. It is also providing vital inputs to central ministries to promote investment in emerging industries and in the government’s disinvestment and asset monetization programmes.
Industry reports suggest that the number of internet users in India, which stood at around 622 million in 2020, is set to touch 900 million by 2025.