Bridging Digital Divide : Special Emphasis on Rural India

By : Charu Malhotra

Page No: 276-285

Abstract
Digital divide refers to the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital and information technology and those without this access. It encompasses both physical access to technology hardware and, more broadly, skills and resources which allow for its use. The main goal of this study is to understand the disparities faced by the rural Indian population in respect to their urban counterparts. Factors like infrastructure facilities, gender, level of education, access to the technology, language disparity and lack of ICT skills have contributed to the digital divide. In India the use of IT and computerisation began in 1978. In 1985 the Government of India decided to increase the pace of IT use at the district level. Despite of it, the benefits are yet to be reaped by the rural Indians. The genesis of digital divide is rooted in the primary concern over the rising problem of digital technologies being available to only the urban strata of the society. The study affirms that the rural Indians are far behind in terms of the infrastructure facilities to use the ICT tools. Access to information in society is not uniform and thus the society had got divided into the information ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, leading to a kind of digital divide which is the major concern for the government.

Authors :
Charu Malhotra : She is presently working as an Associate Professor (e-Governance and ICT) at The Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi, India. She is also National ICT Consultant (India) for an ADB-sponsored rural e-governance project and Project Coordinator as well for a significant capacity building ‘training of trainers’ module under the prestigious National e-Governance Plan-NeGP of Government of India, India.