Question : Importance of Technology in Digital India Campaign

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware that technology is absolutely crucial for accelerating and deepening the Digital India Campaign in the country and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(b) whether the Government is initiating the process to introduce 5G technology in the country and if so, the details thereof and the time by which the decision in this regard is likely to be taken by the Government;
(c) whether the United States has intimated the Government to address the concerns over data theft and national security implications while deciding vendors for the introduction of the 5G technology and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto; and
(d) The steps taken/being taken by the Government to protect integrity of data of Indian citizens and national security during implementation of 5G technology in the country?

(a): Yes, Sir. The Government has attached high priority for the importance of technology in bringing good governance in the country and the same has been carved into the Digital India programme. Accordingly, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India has initiated the ‘Digital India’ programme with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge-based economy by ensuring digital access, digital inclusion, digital empowerment and bridging the digital divide. Under Digital India Programme, MeitY has effectively utilised digital technologies to transform the lives of people while ensuring digital inclusion of all the segments. Some of the major initiatives of Digital India Programme are placed at Annexure.

(b) to (d): 5G technology facilitates features like Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable and low latency Communications (uRLLC) and Massive Machine Type Communication(mMTC). The introduction of 5G services depends on 5G equipment and device ecosystem, and economic considerations by the Telecom service providers.

United States has intimated about the use of 5G clean path to protect the data and networks of US diplomatic facilities. The 5G clean path is end to end communication path that does not use any equipment from untrusted vendor.

Considering the security concerns of impending implementation of 5G technology and for the protection of India''s essential national security interests, the Cabinet has approved the National Security Directive on Telecom Sector. Further to address security concerns of telecom network, security conditions are incorporated in the license conditions of telecom service providers. National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS), Bengaluru has also been established and entrusted with the task of preparation of Indian telecom security assurance requirements.
*******



Annexure
• Aadhaar is providing digital identity and identity-based services to 128 crore residents.
• 41.84 beneficiaries are financially included through Jan Dhan Yojana.
• More than 3900 electronics services are operational, which are facilitating around 19 crore transactions on daily basis.
• DigiLocker is providing 4.27 billion issued authentic documents
• UMANG is providing 20,689 services through a single mobile app.
• Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is providing digital payment service from 213 Banks. In the month of February 2021 alone, UPI has processed 229 crore transactions worth Rupees 4.2 lakh crore.
• Government e-Marketplace is facilitating public procurement and has onboarded 1.2 million sellers and service providers.
• Goods and Services Tax Network: It has onboarded 12.7 Million tax-payers and has so far handled payment worth Rupees 31.34 Trillion (and this excludes IGST on imports).
• Common Services Centres: 374,000 CSCs are operational. Out of this, 278,000+ CSCs are operational at Gram Panchayat level. CSCs are offering 350+ services to people living in rural areas and in villages.
• MeitY has initiated “e-Kranti” under Digital India programme with the vision “Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance”. A number of initiatives have been undertaken by Government for promotion of digital technology application across the country. Under e-Kranti, a total of 44 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) are being implemented by various Central Ministries/Departments, States, and State Departments. These MMPs are providing services in the areas such as education, healthcare, agriculture, justice, land records, social benefits, local governments, rural development, women & child development, legislature, local language, transport, financial services, Income Tax (IT), Passport, Posts, etc

The Government of India has been very supportive of technology including emerging technologies. The Government of India takes appropriate response through framing of rules, polices, strategies of implementation and building national public digital platforms with the goal for more and better digital inclusiveness in the society.
Some of the latest measures are as follows:
• The notification of ‘The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’
• RFP finalisation for voice bot enablement at UMANG
• The virtual organisation of The India Toy Fair 2021 to promote Indian toys and Indian artisans.
• Rollout of CO-WIN to track vaccination of COVID-19
National Informatics Centre (NIC) under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is implementing and providing ICT support to various e-governance projects. It is in a way helping in Digital India Campaign in the country.
Some of the e-governance projects which NIC has undertaken are as follows:
• E-Way Bill: Self-service Platform for Consignors, Consignees and Transporters.
• E-Hospital: An End to end Hospital Management Solution. The patient interface of the e-Hospital has been facilitated through Online Registration System (ORS) where services related to patients are delivered electronically.
• Public Finance Management System: Platform for Integrated Finance Management System. It is a core system of Direct Beneficiary Transfer which addresses the demands of citizens, central ministries/departments for Payment & Accounting of all Government of India transactions (Plan & Non Plan).
• GePNIC: Online Procurement System for Government.
• eOffice: Digital Workplace Solution for Government aims to usher in efficient, effective and transparent inter-government and intra-government transactions and processes.
• One Nation One Ration Card: Online Solution for Public Distribution System.
• IVFRT: Immigration, Visa, Foreigners Registration and Tracking System.
• eCourts: Digital Transformation of Courts.
• eCounselling: Simplifying students admission process in transparent manner.
• ServicePlus: Integrated e-Services Delivery Framework.
• SWaaS: Platform for generating secure and Sugamya websites.
• MyGov: Platform for Citizen Engagement.
• Jeevan Pramaan - Provides facility to pensioners to submit Aadhaar based Digital Life Certificates (DLC). It is an alternate anywhere anytime basis method to the mandatory physical verification for pensioners.
• e-Transport: Online centralized solutions like - Vahan (vehicle registration), Sarathi (computerization of issuance of driving licenses), eChallan (challan can be electronically issued by enforcement agencies and online payment can be made), mParivahan App etc.
• Soil Health Card (SHC): The system captures data at each stage of soil sample collection to registering then testing and finally generating the Soil Health Card.
• NSP: National Scholarship Portal
• National Knowledge Network