DiSTO India

The digitally disconnected are often also the most marginalized communities, who have been excluded from reaping the benefits of digitalization.

Amitabh Behar, Oxfam India

Country context

Only 57.1% of the male population and 33.3% of the female population in India reported ever using the internet, indicating a gender gap in internet usage (Source: National Family Health Survey, 2019-21)
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, inter alia, highlights digital literacy, coding and computational thinking in the suggested curricula; according to India's Ministry of Education. The government also issued the Pragyata Guidelines on Digital Education in July 2020, "to solve for India’s scale, diversity, complexity and device penetration" when thinking about digital infrastructure (Source: Gov.in, 2021).

Photo by USAID

Developing digital skills and creating digital talent are important to ensure that citizens have opportunities to reap the benefits of the growing digital economy of India’s workforce. The Digital India Programme and the National Digital Literacy Mission are key initiatives to drive this
There is a plethora of third-sector and commercial organisations thinking about measurement and interventions to understand and tackle digital inequalities. Examples include: Digital India Corporation, Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion, DEF India, Internet and Mobile Association of India, amongst others
India ranks 61 out of 193 nations in the UN’s e-participation index (2022); a composite measure of three important dimensions of e-government, namely the provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity

Photo by Bo Nielsen, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Based on data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), only 4.4% of rural households own computers, out of which only 14% have a computer with an internet connection
There is a clear divide between urban and rural households: 42% of urban households reported having a computer with an internet connection, compared with 14.9% of rural households (Government of India)

Gender gap: There is a significant gender gap in digital literacy rates, with male literacy rates being much higher than female literacy rates (Social Policy Research Foundation). This is a result of social norms and biases that limit women's access to digital technologies. Women are 30% less likely than men to own a mobile phone, and only a third of India's internet users are women (Oxfam)
Urban-rural inequalities: Digital inequalities between urban and rural areas represent a significant challenge in India. Rural areas lack basic digital infrastructure and have limited access to internet services, which hinders the growth of digital literacy and engagement with digital technologies. (Social Policy Research Foundation)

Language barriers: India has a diverse cultural landscape with many different languages spoken across the country. This poses a challenge for digital literacy and engagement as many digital services are available only in English (Oxfam)
Traditional mindset: Many communities in India still view digital technologies with suspicion and scepticism, which can cause hesitancy to engage further with digital technologies

Affordability: Digital technologies can be expensive and many people in India cannot afford them. This is particularly true for people in rural areas, where incomes are lower and digital infrastructure is limited
Unequal distribution of wealth: The unequal distribution of wealth in India means that the implementation of digital technologies can be quite expensive, and not everyone has the means to invest in them

To mark the beginning of DiSTO India, a 2-day symposium in New Delhi discussed the extent and challenges of India's digital divide, as well as strategies to bridge this gap. Among the invitees were esteemed academics, policymakers and stakeholders representing the public, private and non-profit sectors in India. The symposium was organised by the Policy and Development Advisory Group (PDAG) in collaboration with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
DiSTO India also took part in a 2-day workshop for early career researchers. The workshop identified the challenges and skills needed in researching digital inequalities in India
Funding applications for mapping of digital inequalities and representative surveys of internet users in India

Prof. K S Arul Selvan
Professor and Director at the School of Journalism and New Media Studies (SOJNMS), IGNOU, New Delhi.
Currently, Prof. Arul Selvan is coordinating master's degree programmes at SOJNMS. Additionally, he coordinates three SWAYAM (E-learning portal of Ministry of Education, Govt of India) based MOOC courses: Media and Information Literacy for Teachers, Media, Information and Empowerment and Digital Media. Currently, Prof. K S Arul Selvan is serving as an editor for the research journal "IGNOU Journal of Media and Empowerment."
Prof. Arul Selvan has 18 years of media education experience in the Indian University system. Prior to that, he was associated with the South Asian Online Journalism programme of the BBC World Service Trust as a trainer, mentor and project coordinator.

Policy and Development Advisory Group (PDAG) India Team

Arindam Banerjee
Co-Founder and Partner
Policy and Development Advisory Group
A UK Government Chevening Scholar, Arindam is the Co-founder and Partner at PDAG, a social enterprise working across public policy advisory and research and strategic communications.
Arindam has nearly 13 years of experience working across some of India’s most complex, underserved, and underdeveloped regions, closely with senior policymakers, researchers and civil society organisations.
He holds a Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) from the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He also holds an M.A. in Media and Cultural Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.
At PDAG, he currently oversees strategic partnerships with state governments, academic institutes and multilateral institutions.
He has also written extensively across global and national platforms, journals and edited volumes on governance, gender, conflict, sports for social development, migration and politics.

Kunal Singh
Lead – Research & Research Operations
Policy and Development Advisory Group
With nearly ten years of expertise in social research, Kunal currently serves as the Lead - Research and Research Operations at PDAG. In this role, he is responsible for leading and coordinating research activities, as well as managing the overall research operations of the organisation.
Before joining PDAG, Kunal completed his Master's degree in Survey Methods for Social Research at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex. His educational background has equipped him with advanced knowledge and skills in conducting surveys and analysing social research data, making him a valuable asset to the field of social research and policy development.

Sourav Adhikari
Sourav Adhikari is a data science engineer with five years of experience in the public policy research and social impact space. Currently, he leads the Data Solutions vertical at PDAG. His interests include geospatial analysis, systems design, and visualisation for knowledge communication.