Peering into India’s Digital Divide

Syllabus: Governance

Source:  TH

Context: The Comprehensive Modular Survey: Telecom 2025 (CMS) by the NSS reveals deep insights into India’s digital usage patterns, highlighting a shift from basic connectivity to meaningful digital empowerment.

About Peering into India’s Digital Divide:

What is Digital Divide?

• Definition: Digital divide refers to the unequal access to digital technologies (like smartphones, Internet, ICT skills) across different population groups.
• Key Features:
  • Access Gap: Variations in mobile ownership and internet availability.
  • Usage Gap: Differences in the purpose (e.g., entertainment vs. education) of digital use.
  • Skill Gap: Inability to use ICT productively, like word processing or cybercrime reporting.
  • Gender Gap: Lower digital empowerment among women and girls.

Trends in Digital Divide in India (NSS 2025):

• Access Trends:
  • 97.1% youth use mobile phones; 73.4% own them.
  • Ownership: Urban youth – 82%, Rural – 69.3%, Males – 83.3%, Females – 63%.
• Usage Trends:
  • 91.3% of young women now use Internet (up from 77.1% in 2022).
  • 30.4% use Internet only for entertainment and higher among females (36%).
• Skill Trends:
  • 85.1% can send attachments, only 32.2% created presentations, 22.9% drafted documents.
  • Online banking: 68.7% youth, Female (57.5%) vs. Male (79.3%); Rural (63.4%) vs. Urban (79.7%).
• Connectivity:
  • 91.6% urban households vs. 83.3% rural households have Internet.
  • Only 7.2% of households have fibre-optic connections; rural share only 3.2%.

First-Generation Digital Inclusion Reforms

• BharatNet Expansion: BharatNet connected over 1.7 lakh Gram Panchayats with optical fibre, enabling digital services in remote villages. It became the backbone for e-governance, e-health, and online education in rural areas.
• Digital India Framework: The Digital India Mission aimed at universal access through CSCs, digital lockers, and online government services.
• PMGDISHA Literacy Drive: Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan aimed to train 6 crore rural individuals in basic digital skills.
• UPI and JAM Trinity: The Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile linkage and UPI enabled low-cost, real-time digital payments.

Outcomes of First-Gen Reforms:

• Universal Mobile Usage: About 97% of youth now use mobile phones for calls and internet, including 92.7% in rural areas. This marks a near-saturation of basic digital access across India.
• UPI’s Dominance in Payments: UPI usage among youth touched 80.7%, while Net banking remained low at 0.7%. This shows India’s fintech adoption is mobile-first and mass-based.
• Mobile-Centric Internet: Smartphones with cheap data packs made mobile internet the primary access tool in rural India. Desktop or broadband-based access remains limited.
• Rise in Female Internet Users: Female internet usage in rural India rose from 77.1% to 91.3%, indicating a major shift in gender access. This reflects a quiet digital empowerment underway.

Persistent Shortcomings in Digital Divide:

• Gender Gap in Ownership: Only 56.9% of rural young women own mobile phones, compared to 81.2% of men. Access without ownership limits autonomy and private use.
• Lack of Productive Skills: Just 32.2% of youth created a digital presentation, only 22.9% drafted a document. Digital use is skewed towards consumption, not creation.
• Dependence on Male Relatives: Women often rely on family phones, leading to restricted use and compromised privacy. This dependence hinders empowerment and equal participation.
• Low Civic Tech Awareness: Only 26.9% of youth know how to file cybercrime complaints; rural and female awareness is below 22%. This limits their ability to seek redress online.
• Weak Financial Fluency: Just 18.8% of youth use both UPI and Net banking. Multimodal digital banking literacy remains underdeveloped, especially in rural areas.

Way Forward: Second-Generation Inclusion

• From Access to Empowerment: Focus must shift from access to enabling youth to use digital tools creatively and productively. This includes skill-building, problem-solving, and content creation.
• Women-Centric Interventions: Train SHGs and rural women to use mobile apps for business, education, and healthcare. Digital tools must serve as income and knowledge multipliers.
• Last-Mile Infrastructure Push: Strengthen fibre-to-village networks and set up school-based and panchayat-level digital hubs. Public Wi-Fi and community centres can support access.
• Digital in School Curricula: ICT training, document creation, presentations, and cyber hygiene must be taught in schools. It will ensure productive engagement from an early age.
• Expand Digital Financial Skills: Train women and rural youth in using Net banking, UPI, and secure wallets. Financial fluency beyond UPI is crucial for true participation.
• Localized Awareness Campaigns: Use local languages to promote internet use for health, e-learning, job search, and governance. Content should match rural needs and cultural context.

Conclusion:

India has achieved near-universal digital access, but meaningful use remains unequal. A second-generation push must focus on ownership, skills, and autonomy to truly bridge the divide. A mobile phone in every hand must also mean equal power in every mind.

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