Digital India Needs Digitally Empowered Indians. But Are We Ready?

Digital India needs all Indians to be digitally empowered, especially with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) emerging as the de facto delivery mechanism for citizen welfare. Ironically, the beneficiaries most deserving of state welfare are also the least digitally empowered to access it. Data suggest that rural (vis-à-vis urban), women (vis-à-vis men), and economically weaker (vis-à-vis those better off) segments of India’s population lack telecom infrastructure as well as digital literacy and access to digital devices, compared to the level needed for accessing government welfare schemes and actively participating in day-to-day life. This poses a serious concern: Is DPI further deepening the pre-existing digital divide? We believe the answer is a resounding yes.

India has witnessed great expansion in the telecom sector in recent decades. Following liberalisation under the New Telecom Policy, 1999, the industry evolved from a state monopoly into one with several private sector players. Technological advancements, combined with sectoral reforms, including reduced telecom license fees and an increased sectoral FDI threshold, further bolstered this growth.

However, the inequitable distribution of telecom infrastructure and digital devices poses a serious concern. Data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reflect a stark disparity in wireless tele-density (i.e., the number of wireless telephone subscriptions per 100 population): urban tele-density stands at 149, whereas rural tele-density is as low as 60 (TRAI, 2026). Similarly, total internet subscriptions per 100 population in urban areas are 114, while they are as low as 46 in rural areas (Ministry of Communication, 2025). These data points are imperfect but are the best available proxies for assessing digital adoption. Further, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) identify the inability to use the internet as the leading cause for non-usage among individuals aged 15 and above, where only 56% females and 71% males reported having the ability to send and receive emails. Similarly, only 54% females and 70% of males reported having the ability to use copy-and-paste tools (MoSPI, 2025).

The National Policy on Information Technology, 2012 articulated the goal of making at least one individual in every household e-literate, followed by the flagship digital literacy programme, the National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM), 2014, Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA), 2014–2016, and the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), 2017. NDLM aimed to train one person from every eligible household in the country through a two-tiered computer skills curriculum, focusing on basic competencies such as operating digital devices, sending and receiving emails, internet search, and accessing government services; however, it left out online safety and data privacy from its purview. The good part is that it benefited people Below Poverty Line, who comprised 64% of beneficiaries, but sadly, only 38% of the beneficiaries were women (Council for Social Development, 2017).

Despite these initiatives, the impact of digital literacy initiatives in India still has significant room for improvement. Some scholars caution that with the move away from substantive training to quick certifications, the credibility and efficacy of skill training programmes, which serve as critical tools for India’s predominantly informal workforce, are being diluted (Sharma & Mehrotra, 2025).

We recommend a statutory rights-based framework to address all of the above issues, including, inter alia, filling existing gaps in the USOF’s design. Rights-based mechanisms have been India’s preferred approach to advancing socio-economic welfare across a range of issues like employment, education, information, etc. A Hohfeldian analysis of the jural relations reshaped by DPI’s mandatory nature reflects the need for a universal right to internet access to balance citizen–state relations, at the very least for cases where DPI is a mandatory requirement for accessing public services and related entitlements.

Within the school curriculum, the National Education Policy’s focus has largely remained on integrating digitalisation at the pedagogical level. Efforts to bring digital literacy on par with foundational numeracy and literacy are sorely missing. Only 58% of schools across India have computers for pedagogical purposes, while 63% have some form of internet facilities (UDISE, 2025).

Besides these limitations, poor governance around internet shutdown by local administration further exacerbates the usage of DPI even for well-to-do citizens living in better-off cities and towns. The risk of digital exclusion along the fault lines of gender, income and geography—which was already very high—has become even higher in the wake of India’s DPI revolution. We need a targeted intervention to support those on the wrong side of the digital divide. Our recommendation is to legislate the Right to Digital Empowerment (RiDE) Act, which will ensure digital literacy and access to digital devices for every adult person in India and the proliferation of telecom infrastructure down to the proverbial last mile of the country.

Ironically, funds are not the challenge. The government can address most of these concerns with the corpus of funds in the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN, formerly the “Universal Services Obligation Fund” [USOF]), which has remained underutilised for a long period. We recommend that it should be directed to ameliorate gaps in internet connectivity and digital literacy, thereby fulfilling the government’s obligations arising from the enactment of the RiDE Act.

The New Telecom Policy, 2012 had envisaged a unique AADHAAR-based electronic authentication framework as an integral part of service delivery, while simultaneously setting the target of achieving 100% rural tele density by 2020—a goal that is yet to be achieved. The design of the USOF has been questioned by scholars for over a decade. Jain and Raghuram (2009) argued that the USOF, by design, does not centre the individual, impeding the translation of telecom advancements into meaningful individual access. This affects marginalised groups most adversely, especially since meaningful internet connectivity has become an essential prerequisite for receiving citizen welfare and actively participating in civic life due to the deployment of DPI by the government in most aspects of public life.

We recommend a statutory rights-based framework to address all of the above issues, including, inter alia, filling existing gaps in the USOF’s design. Rights-based mechanisms have been India’s preferred approach to advancing socio-economic welfare across a range of issues like employment, education, information, etc. A Hohfeldian analysis of the jural relations reshaped by DPI’s mandatory nature reflects the need for a universal right to internet access to balance citizen–state relations, at the very least for cases where DPI is a mandatory requirement for accessing public services and related entitlements. This has been recognised by the Supreme Court of India in response to constraints faced by persons with visual disabilities in complying with live photo capture requirements for accessing certain public services, wherein the Court declared that the right to digital access is a fundamental right. The Court subsequently directed concerned regulatory authorities to come up with mechanisms addressing the petitioners’ concerns (Supreme Court of India, 2025).

An actionable legal remedy to secure meaningful internet access can offset the constraints faced by disadvantaged groups and ensure inclusive digital transformation.

Worldwide, the recognition of a right to internet access has evolved across several jurisdictions, necessitated by the growing pervasiveness of digital connectivity for routine transactions. Smartphones are no longer a luxury that they once were; they have become a basic necessity. In particular, the UK government has transformed its universal service obligation for broadband into a right to claim decent internet access (10 Mbits/second) upon request for eligible households and businesses. Eligibility criteria broadly include those lacking decent broadband and not expected to be covered by a publicly funded broadband rollout in the next twelve months (Ofcom, 2023). This example showcases how an actionable legal remedy available to secure meaningful internet access can offset the constraints faced by disadvantaged groups and ensure inclusive digital transformation.

Given India’s circumstances and landscape, state intervention is imperative, particularly considering the presence of dedicated fiscal resources, which are languishing in the absence of appropriate, individual-focused legislative direction. The RiDE Act, though not sufficient, is an extremely necessary step in this direction.