Digital India 2023, The New Digital India Act, Logo, Objectives and Portal

Digital India 2023: The recent introduction of the Digital India Act, 2023 (DIA), marks a notable stride in creating a forward-looking legal framework to support the rapidly growing digital landscape in the nation. The Hindu published an article on 9^th October 2023 on “How the Digital India Act will shape the future of the country’s cyber landscape” discussing the proposed Digital India Act, of 2023 aiming to India’s Digital Future.

What is the Digital India?

To make government services available to citizens electronically by improving online infrastructure and enhancing internet connectivity, the Indian Government launched the Digital India campaign. The Digital India campaign aims to empower the country by equipping the citizens digitally in the domain of technology. The Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the campaign on 1^st July 2015.

This initiative taken by the Government of India promised under the Digital India campaign is to provide high-speed internet networks specifically to rural areas. The campaign acts as a beneficiary to other government schemes like Make in India, Bharatmala, Startup India, BharatNet, and Standup India.

According to the stats, India ranks amongst the top 2 countries globally on digital adoption and the digital economy of India is approximately $1 trillion by the year 2023.

Objectives of Digital India

The Digital India campaign adopted many initiatives and objectives to transform India digitally. The motto of the Digital India Campaign is ‘Power to Empower’. The objectives of the campaign are:

• Provides a well-built digital infrastructure for the utility of every citizen of the country.
• Provides governance and services on demand of the citizens of the country.
• Restructure existing digital schemes and legislations that can be implemented in a synchronized manner.
• Increases electronic transactions related to e-governance in the country.
• Establishes digital villages with well-equipped facilities such as solar lighting, LED assembly unit, sanitary napkin production unit, and Wi-Fi.
• Looks after the digital empowerment of every citizen of the country.
• Offers inclusive growth in areas of electronic services, products, manufacturing, and job opportunities.
• Provides high-speed internet in all gram panchayats.
• Providing easy access to Common Service Centre (CSC) in all the locality.

Nine Pillars of Digital India

The Digital India Campaign lays down digital initiatives and nine pillars to ensure the implementation of the visions identified under the Digital India program. The nine pillars are as follows:

Digital India Initiative

The Indian government has undertaken many initiatives to digitally transform the country and the aspects of governance, services, and connectivity. The Digital India campaign initiatives include:

• The initiative provides DigiLockers a cloud-based platform providing storage and access to authentic digital documents kept in the digital document wallet using a unique ID aiming at the Digital Empowerment of the citizen.

• The initiative promotes entrepreneurship supporting start-ups through granting incentives, providing funding, and mentorship with a goal of Startup India.
• The initiative provides a MyGov Citizen engagement platform specifically for the participation of the citizens in governance and policy discussions.
• The initiative provides Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) UPI as a digital payment system enabling secure peer-to-peer transactions using smartphones for easy and quick digital transactions.
• The initiative provides the Digital India Portal which is a single-window platform for accessing government services and information.
• The initiative provides UMANG App which is a unified mobile app for various government services and features.
• The initiative provides e-NAM which is an online trading platform connecting agricultural markets for efficient sale of produce.
• The initiative aims at a Smart Cities Mission which focuses on the development of smart cities with improved infrastructure and digital services.
• The initiative introduces BharatNet which provides high-speed broadband connectivity to villages for digital services in rural areas.
• The initiative introduces e-Hospital providing digitized hospital services, online registration, and digital health record access. Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) provides a one-stop solution for connecting patients, hospitals, and doctors through a single digital platform.
• The initiative provides for a biometric identification system i.e. Aadhaar which is a 12-digit demographic-based identity that is unique, lifelong, online, and authenticable.

Digital India Logo

The logo was designed by Rana Bhowmik. The mission of the Digital India logo represents the new generation and reflects the speed of the digital era and the flavor of India. The logo highlights the colours of the National flag combining D and I of the words Digital and India.

The Digital India Act 2023

The legislators intend to introduce a futuristic law to combat the country’s rapidly increasing digital ecosystem. The Digital India Act, 2023 (DIA) is a dynamic step by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) as it poses a significant stride towards the growing digital landscape in the country demonstrating a proactive stance on India’s digital future. The Digital India Act 2023 is shelved and is expected to be brought up in the Parliament’s upcoming session replacing several inadequate and faulty existing digital laws.

What is the Digital India Act 2023?

The Digital India Act, of 2023 is a comprehensive legislation that aims to harmonize and consolidate digital laws in India. The Digital India Act 2023 intends to build a legal framework for the country’s ever-expanding digital ecosystem according to the present prevailing digital scenario in India. The new initiative seeks to cover data privacy, cybersecurity, digital identity, e-commerce, digital literacy, and digital innovation. The act is an addition to other digital legislations like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, National Data Governance Policy, and Cybercrime under the Indian Penal Code.

Objectives of the Digital India Act 2023

The Digital India Act 2023 is a forward-looking legal framework introduced to map out India’s rapidly increasing digital economy with objectives:

• The Digital India Act establishes evolving and easily adaptable rules enabling them to align with emerging technological developments. These evolvable rules are designed to be consistent, relevant, and effective according to the changing digital trends.
• The act establishes an easily accessible adjudicatory mechanism to address online civil and criminal offenses with timely redressals and enforce the rule of law on the Internet.
• The act establishes a legislative framework ensuring compliance with overreaching governing principles.

Features and Provisions of the Digital India Act 2023

The Digital India Act 2023 entails several features to transform and evolve the digital environment of India. The Digital Act 2023 allegedly mentions significant provisions attempting to change the digital landscape of the country:

The foremost concern is on online safety and trust including the guarantee of protecting citizen’s rights in the digital realm with respect to digital frameworks and international legal principles. The proposed act intends to balance free open Internet and stringent digital regulations to protect users.

 The Digital India Act 2023 recognizes and implements changes according to the new-age present technological developments including artificial intelligence. The Digital India Act 2023 provides guidelines and encourages new innovations.

The Digital India Act 2023 proposes the concept of an open Internet providing access to the citizens of the country and safeguarding the users at the same time from cyberstalking, trolling etc.

The Digital India Act 2023 replaces the Information Technology Act of 2000 and aims to create a legal framework that aligns with the present digital revolution and technological era.

Digital India Portal

Digital India is a flagship program of the government of India that wishes to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Digital India Portal is headquartered in New Delhi and the official website is https://digitalindiaportals.in/. Digital India web Portal is India’s leading brand for the digital India mission that provides a digital platform for all small and medium-sized business enterprises with complete payments, financial, government non-government and taxation solutions to start and grow their business with smart technology.

The official website of Digital India Portal i.e. https://digitalindiaportals.in/ entails the vision of the campaign is that people will not have to travel far from their homes to avail of digital facilities. Digital India Portal aims to provide employment to all citizens, especially in rural areas, provide digital services to every citizen, especially in every village of India, and make people of India self-reliant and spread digital awareness.

This opportunity allows retailers to utilize diverse web-based services, serving their clients and incurring minimal investment costs through the Digital India Portal. The Digital India Portal facilitates a franchise network consisting of mom-pop stores near consumer areas for consumer convenience.

Conclusion on New Digital India 2023

The Digital India Act 2023 is a much-needed in-present and forward-looking initiative required for India’s digital future. It caters the evolving digital and technological landscape and creates a safer digital environment. The Digital India Act, 2023 impact and relevance depend on its execution and practice. The act if executed properly and is successful in respecting the privacy of the citizens and encourages new ideas and businesses would shape a digital landscape that benefits the entire nation.

Digital India UPSC

The Digital India Mission holds relevance for the UPSC examination due to its comprehensive coverage of the UPSC Syllabus in areas like Governance, Technology, and Economy. Aspirants preparing for UPSC can benefit from an in-depth understanding of the new Digital India Act 2023, initiatives, pillars, and impact important for the syllabus.

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