Union Cabinet approves Rs 14,903 crore expansion of digital India programme

The expansion will include increasing cybersecurity awareness, re-skilling IT professionals, and supporting 1,200 startups, among other initiatives

The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the expansion of the Digital India program, allocating a total fund of Rs 14,903 crore. The programme was introduced on July 1, 2015, proved to be very successful. Therefore, the Cabinet has decided to expand the initiative.

 

The expansion would entail the following:

 

Skill enhancement for IT professionals: 625,000 IT professionals will undergo re-skilling and up-skilling under the FutureSkills Prime Programme.

 

Information Security Training: 265,000 individuals will receive training in information security through the information security & education awareness phase (ISEA) programme.

 

Enhanced services through UMANG: The unified mobile application for new-age governance (UMANG) platform will have 540 new services added. Currently, UMANG offers over 1,700 services.

 

Empowering supercomputing: An additional nine supercomputers will augment the National Super Computer Mission's existing fleet of 18, boosting computational power across domains.

 

Language translation tool: The AI-powered multi-language translation tool named Bhashini, presently available in 10 languages, will soon encompass all 22 languages present in the eighth schedule to the constitution.

 

Revamping education connectivity: The national knowledge network (NKN), connecting 1,787 educational institutions, will undergo modernisation to ensure seamless connectivity.

 

Widened digital verification: The digital document verification feature of DigiLocker will extend its reach to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other organisations.

 

Startup support in non-metro areas: 1,200 startups will be supported in Tier 2/3 cities

 

Advancing artificial intelligence: Three centres of excellence in artificial intelligence will be established to focus on health, agriculture, and sustainable cities.

 

Promoting cyber awareness: Cyber-awareness courses will be provided to a staggering 120 million college students.

 

Strengthening cybersecurity: The initiative encompasses novel cybersecurity strategies, including tool development and integration of over 200 sites with the national cyber coordination centre.