The Government has launched the Digital India Programme with an ambitious vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The Programme envisages linking citizens to various e-governance initiatives, involving them in decision making for strengthening public participation and thus enhancing governance accountability. The full potential of Digital India Programme can only be realised if every citizen, regardless of location and social background, is provided with opportunities as well as capabilities to access and leverage digital services/technologies. The universal digital literacy across the country including rural India is an essential element for success of these initiatives. Government had approved two schemes for providing digital literacy to the citizens namely National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) and Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA) which were implemented concurrently by CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC-SPV) (a public limited company set up under the Companies Act, 1956). The cumulative target of providing digital literacy to 52.5 lakh duly certified beneficiaries under these two schemes was achieved in December 2016, much ahead of the proposed timeline of December 2018. The present Scheme has been designed as a follow-up to the above mentioned budgetary announcement of Hon'ble Finance Minister. Digital literacy is a key component of the Government's vision of building an empowered society as envisaged under "Digital India initiative". Spinoff effects of digital literacy especially in the context of rural India would address a number of socio-economic issues. 'Digital Literacy' would bring the benefits of ICT to daily lives of rural population especially in the areas of Healthcare, Livelihood generation and Education. Furthermore, as the thrust of the government is on promoting cashless transactions through mobile phones, the course content would also have emphasis on use of Digital Financial Tools for Electronic Payment System.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan is the scheme to make six crore persons in rural areas, across States/UTs, digitally literate, reaching to around 40% of rural households by covering one member from every eligible household by 31st March, 2019. The Scheme would empower the citizens in rural areas by training them to operate computer or digital access devices (like tablets, smart phones etc.), send and receive e-mails, browse Internet, access Government services, search for information, undertake digital payment etc. and hence enable them to use the Information Technology and related applications especially Digital Payments to actively participate in the process of nation building. The Scheme aims to bridge the digital divide, specifically targeting the rural population including the marginalised sections of society like Scheduled Castes (SC) / Scheduled Tribes (ST), Minorities, Below Poverty Line (BPL), women and differently-abled persons and minorities.

To make a person digitally literate, so that he/she can operate digital devices (like Tablets, Smart phones etc) send and receive emails & browse Internet for information and undertake digital payment etc.

Learning Outcomes / Competency Standards:

1. Understand the basics (terminology, navigation and functionality) of digital devices
2. Use digital devices for accessing, creating, managing and sharing information
3. Use the Internet to browse in an effective and responsible manner Use technology to communicate effectively
4. Appreciate the role of digital technology in everyday life, in social life and at work
5. Carry out cashless transactions using digital financial tools (USSD/ UPI/ eWallet/ AEPS/ Card/ PoS)
6. Use Digital Locker
7. Use online citizen centric services
The content generation / collation / management / aggregation - creation of content bank etc would be carried by CSC-SPV in consultation with various stakeholders as per the following:
I. The content developed for the purpose of digital literacy training would be made available in 22 scheduled languages of India apart from English. A mobile 'app' would be made available in 22 scheduled languages so that training content can be downloaded and re-used as and when needed.
II. For persons who cannot read and write, audio/visual/touch etc. based content would be developed. For those who can read and write, textual, structured, audio, video, and applications based content would be made available. Efforts would be made to design target beneficiaries specific contents with the use of local/localized resources.
III. Top citizen centric schemes as indicated below are included as part of curriculum:

o G2C Services- Caste certificate, Domicile certificate, Income Certificate
o UIDAI Services
o Banking Services
o IRCTC- Railway reservation
o Insurance
o Telephone/data card Recharge
o Election ID printing
o Electricity- bill payment
o Pan card
o Passport
IV. As the thrust of the government is on promoting cashless transactions through mobile phones, the course content would also have emphasis on digital wallets, mobile banking, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AEPS), PoS etc.

V. Appropriate feedback from beneficiaries and trainers for content enhancement would be taken to modify the content as per the needs of beneficiaries.

VI. Emphasis would be given on use/operating of digital access device(computers, tablets, etc.) for navigating through various applications such as, opening internet browser, browse for information, search for information, listen to and watch audio and video, etc.

VII. Other digital literacy courses developed by various agencies in this field can also be considered for imparting digital literacy training.

VIII. A Technical Committee setup by the CSC-SPV comprising of members drawn from NIELIT, IGNOU, NIOS, UNESCO, DEF, IT for Change, IIMC, INTEL, NASSCOM, NIIT, PMGDISHA partners, etc would ratify the contents. A Multilingual centralized pool of content relevant especially to rural masses would be created by CSC-SPV.

Broad Content outline:
Module Name
Introduction to Digital Devices
Operating Digital Devices
Introduction to the Internet
Communications using the Internet Applications of Internet (include citizen-centric services; Use of digital financial tools for undertaking cashless transactions)
Total Duration : 20 Hrs
Eligibility Criteria :
• Eligible Household: A household is defined as a unit comprising of Head of family, spouse, children and parents. All such households where none of the family member is digitally literate will be considered as eligible household under the Scheme.
• Entry criteria
o The beneficiary should be Digitally Illiterate
o Only one person per eligible household would be considered for training
o Age Group: 14 - 60 years
• Priority would be given to
o Non-smartphone users, Antyodaya households, college drop-outs, Participants of the adult literacy mission
o Digitally illiterate school students from class 9th to 12th, provided facility of Computer/ICT Training is not available in their schools
• Preference would be given to SC, ST, BPL, women, differently-abled persons and minorities

Module Name
Introduction to Digital Devices
Operating Digital Devices
Introduction to the Internet
Communications using the Internet
Applications of Internet(include citizen-centric services; Use of digital financial tools for undertaking cashless transactions)
Total Duration: 20 Hrs
Learning Outcomes / Competency Standards:
• Understand the basics (terminology, navigation and functionality) of digital devices
• Use digital devices for accessing, creating, managing and sharing information
• Use the Internet to browse in an effective and responsible manner
• Use technology to communicate effectively
• Carry out cashless transactions using digital financial tools (USSD/ UPI/ eWallet/AEPS/ Card/ PoS)
• Use Digital Locker
• Use online citizen centric services
• Appreciate the role of digital technology in everyday life, in social life and at work Physical Infrastructure :
• Minimum carpet area of 200 sq. ft.
• One classroom to seat 5-20 students
• Located within the concerned Panchayat boundaries
• Technical Infrastructure :
• Minimum of 3-5 Operational Computers (Laptop or PC) with genuine/ licensed
• software
• All computers should have been connected to a local network
• One High-Resolution Web Camera in each computer
• Reliable Internet Connectivity with minimum speed of 256 kbps
• One printer and scanner
• 3-5 Tablet / Mobile Phones
• Biometric devices prescribed by PMU in each computer
Manpower : • Each training centre shall have a minimum of one teaching faculty, with minimum
• educational qualifications as below:
• NIELIT’s BCC or its equivalent

State-wise PMGDISHA Targets West Bengal 4481000 Bihar 6630000 Jharkhand 1803000 The other details of the process are available at www.pmgdisha.in.