NEW DELHI: The Government of India’s ambitious initiative, the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), has achieved significant milestones in promoting digital literacy across rural India. According to a press release from the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Delhi, as of July 26, 2024, the scheme has enrolled approximately 7.35 crore candidates, trained 6.39 crore individuals, and certified 4.78 crore candidates.
The PMGDISHA scheme, implemented exclusively in rural areas, aims to provide digital literacy to 6 crore rural households, covering one person per household. The initiative offers beneficiaries 20 hours of training, encompassing five essential modules: Introduction to Digital Devices, Operating Digital Devices, Introduction to the Internet, Communications using the Internet, and Application of the Internet, which includes citizen-centric services and digital financial transactions.
Training content is available in 22 scheduled languages and English, accessible both online and offline. Emphasizing the government’s push for cashless transactions, the curriculum includes digital wallets, mobile banking, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS), and Point of Sale (PoS) systems.
Candidates underwent a rigorous third-party assessment by recognized certifying agencies such as the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Haryana Knowledge Corporation Limited (HKCL), and ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu (ICTACT). Successful candidates received digitally signed certificates, directly uploaded to their Digi-Locker accounts.
NIELIT, an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), has been instrumental in this initiative, offering various skill development programs in Information Technology and Electronics through its 52 centres and over 720 accredited institutes, alongside more than 9,500 facilitation centres.
The states and Union Territories have shown remarkable participation and achievements under the PMGDISHA scheme. Uttar Pradesh leads with 16.31 million registered candidates, 14.55 million trained, and 11.03 million certified, followed by Bihar with 8.24 million registered, 7.41 million trained, and 5.46 million certified. Maharashtra registered 6.12 million candidates, trained 5.32 million, and certified 3.85 million, while Madhya Pradesh saw 5.69 million registered, 5.06 million trained, and 3.75 million certified. Odisha registered 3.61 million, trained 3.08 million, and certified 2.35 million candidates.