Prime Minister Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan: Key Points to Remember

Introduction

In the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by our Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, “(PMGDISHA) got a go ahead and it aims at providing digital literacy to 6 crore rural households. The mission was announced by finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2016-17 and falls under Digital India programme. For increasing the outreach of the mission, 250,000 gram panchayats would give names of 200-300 candidates on an average. Only 6% rural households have a computer according to the 71st National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) conducted in 2014. This indicates around 15 crore rural households do not have computers and hence it is significant that they are digitally illiterate.

BUDGET ALLOCATED
Rs. 2,351.38 crores

OBJECTIVES

For providing digital literacy to the rural citizens of our country
To widen the use of cashless transactions with the help of smart phones
Focus on Digital Wallets, UPI(Unified Payment Interface), mobile banking, USSD(Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) and AEPS(Aadhaar Enabled Payment System)

CHARACTERISTICS

This mission will make an individual trained to operate computers
The individual will be able to do cashless transactions with ease
He/she will be able to use smartphones and tablets properly
He/she will be able to send and receive e-mails
He/she will be able to derive benefits from various government schemes

MINISTRY-

Ministry of Electronics and IT along with State and Union Territories by designated State Implementing Agencies and DeGS (District e-Governance Society)

PHASES

PHASE 1: 25 lakh candidates will be given training in financial year 2016-17
PHASE 2: 275 lakh will be given training in financial year 2017-18
PHASE 3: 300 lakh candidates be given training in financial year 2018-19

ADVANTAGES

It will make lakhs of rural people, digitally literate
It will provide confidence and power to digitally illiterate by imparting knowledge about the operation of computers
It will teach them how to do cashless transactions, which is a huge step in making India, a cashless economy
It will provide them social, economical and cultural advantages.
It will create opportunities for the rural youth
Candidates will be able to use the internet will offers the widest arrays of information

Conclusion

Hence, it is a great scheme for improving digital literacy of the rural population of our country and it would immensely help people in becoming cashless and also teaching others to become cashless too. So many cashless schemes are introduced in the country and to access those schemes properly, this mission can contribute hugely.