Broadband India Forum (BIF) organised a virtual session of ‘The Digital Dialogues’ on ‘Framework for Building an Inclusive Digital Society for Rural India’.

While broadband services have reached the rural and lesser developed parts of the country to some extent, new technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) would need firm support to percolate to these areas, so that they do not remain confined to the urban centres. Rural digital inclusion would essentially encompass providing reliable internet connectivity to all with the help of affordable services, devices and making people digitally literate, while facilitating the use of enabling technologies to augment their proficiencies in education, work and business, thereby improving the quality of life.

Speaking on the event, Hari Ranjan Rao, administrator, USOF, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), government of India,  said, “Given that almost 60-65 per cent of the Indian citizenry is based in rural areas, providing efficient and reliable digital connectivity to them is of utmost importance. The USOF is committed to provide all requisite support for facilitating digital inclusion for all by connecting the unconnected, and especially helping empower our vulnerable and weaker sections, by enabling access and opportunities through digital platforms/services.”

Meanwhile, Mansi Kedia, research fellow, ICRIER presented the key highlights of the BIF-ICRIER report on ‘Building an inclusive Digital Society for Rural India’, which was developed by ICRIER, and was released by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for Electronics and Information Technology, during a High Level Round Table at the Valedictory Session of the India Internet Governance Forum held during 2021.

Following the same, the panel of esteemed experts engaged and deliberated on various vital aspects of rural digital inclusion, focusing especially on the objectives of individuals and communities to be able to access and adopt technology to improve and enrich their socio-economic status and well-being.

Additionally, T.V. Ramachandran, president, BIF, said, “BIF is committed to the cause of rural digital inclusion via broadband connectivity since its very inception, with a dedicated rural digital initiatives (RDI) committee working actively towards this purpose. This report is amongst the several initiatives undertaken by BIF to provide practical suggestions for overcoming the access barriers and helping bring the unconnected into the ambit of our digital economy.”

The key findings/highlights of the report are as follows:

  • A comparison of 15 indicators that measure the performance of all states and union territories on parameters of digital inclusion in rural areas finds that, in most states and UTs CSC coverage of connected gram panchayats (GPs) is very high (all India average at 95 per cent, which is highly creditable). There is huge scope for improvements in broadband connectivity to public schools (all India average at 1.2 per cent).Other indicators such as percentage of GPs with an installed Wi-Fi hotspot, performance of the Prime Minister’s Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), percentage of broadband connected public hospitals, etc. demonstrate high degrees of variation across states/UTs.
  • The assessment of secondary data clearly establishes that significant progress has been made in several areas across a few states, and there is enormous potential for building comprehensive digital societies for rural India. The case studies for Assam, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal explain differences in outcome by illustrating how states have adopted different approaches in implementing policies for acceleration of network infrastructure, digital services and digital literacy.
  • The report finds scope for improvements in policy design as well as implementation through a concentrated effort that simultaneously focuses on access, adoption and application. More specifically, recommendations on improving access focus on building last mile connectivity with network utilisation and monetisation at the core of the policy design, improving accountability of the network deployed and future-proofing network design, smoothening RoW policies, reviewing spectrum assignment and standardisation of technologies, complementing fibre with new technologies such as satellite broadband and FSOC, and building  supporting infrastructure such as electricity connections.
  • Digital adoption policies and applications must focus on addressing regional and gender divides. Local contextualisation of initiatives is important to drive participation, create awareness and trust. Improving collaboration between central, state and local governments as well as encouraging private sector participation cut across all three levers.