Communications and

8 Information Technology
19. Information and Communication Technology (ICT): Nature and Scope of ICT; ICT in day to day
life; ICT and Industry; ICT and Governance - Various government schemes promoting use of
ICT, E-Governance programmes and services; Netiquettes; Cyber Security Concerns -
National Cyber Crime Policy.

COMMUNICATIONS and information technology in the country are handled by the

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Communications.
The Ministry of Electronics and Technology promotes e-governance and sustainable
growth of the electronics, IT and ITeS industries, enhancing India’s role in internet
governance while the Ministry of Communications looks after the Department of Posts
and Department of Telecommunications. Main activities and initiatives of these
departments are given here.
e-Post
e-Post is an unregistered hybrid mail provided for both retail as well as corporate
customers providing electronic transmission of messages which may include text
messages, scanned images, pictures and their delivery in hard copies at the destination
through postman/delivery staff. Presently, e-Post booking facility is available in more
than 13,000 post offices and are physically delivered through a network of more than
1.54 lakh post offices, etc. to draft, design and send messages as per their business
requirements from their office premises by using the internet. Online recharge facility for
pre-paid customers is available using credit/debit card.
e-Post Office
e-Post Office is an e-commerce portal of the Department of Posts which provides
selected postal facility through the internet. This portal aims at providing a
convenience to the public for availing select postal services from their home/ office
using their own computer and internet. Customers can buy philatelic stamps and pay
PLI/RPLI premium online using credit/debit card through this portal. The customer
would need to register on the website for the first time.
e-IPO
The Electronic Indian Postal Order (e-IPO) was introduced in 2013 to enable citizens
living abroad to pay RTI fee online through the e-Post Office portal
(https://www.epostoffice.gov.in). The facility has been extended to Indian citizens living
in India from 2014.
Sale of Sovereign Gold Bond
Department is actively engaged in the premier scheme—Sale of Sovereign Gold Bond
(SGB)’ introduced by Ministry of Finance, and operated through RBI. The objective of
the scheme is to popularize ‘Paper Gold’ among masses and to reach out the mall
investors at the grassroot level.
Setting up of Aadhaar Updation and Enrolment Facilities
The Department of Posts has been mandated to set up Aadhaar Enrolment and Updation
Centres in the post offices across the country. Aadhaar Enrolment and Aadhaar Updation
Centres are proposed to be set up in 810 head post offices and 22493 sub post offices
across the country in a phased manner. As in August, 2017, 882 Aadhaar Updation
Centres are operational across the country.

Information Technology
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) deals with policy matters
relating to
1) information technology,
2) electronics, internet (other than licensing of ISPs) and cyber security.
3) The aim is to promote
4) e-governance for empowering citizens,
5) promoting the inclusive and sustainable growth of the electronics,
6) IT and ITeS industries,
7) promoting digital transactions and digital payments,
8)enhancing India’s role in internet governance,
adopting a multipronged approach that includes
development of human resources
promoting R&D and innovation
enhancing efficiency through digital services and ensuring a secure cyber space.
With the unveiling of the Digital India programme the role of MeitY has enhanced.
The overarching vision of the programme is
to transform India into a digitally empowered society and
knowledge economy.
The programme has three vision areas namely,
1) digital infrastructure as a utility for every citizen,
2) governance and services on demand
3) digital empowerment of citizens by bridging the digital divide in the country.
This transformational programme is designed to build holistic capabilities across
infrastructure, manufacturing, skills and delivery platforms which in turn will lead to
creation of a self-reliant knowledge economy.
Digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen includes availability of high speed
internet for delivery of services to citizens, digital identity for every citizen, mobile
phone and bank account enabling citizen participation in digital and financial space,
shareable private space on a public cloud and safe and secure cyber-space.
Governance and services on demand includes seamlessly integrated services across
departments or jurisdictions, services availability in real time from online and mobile
platforms, digitally transformed services for improving ease of doing business,
leveraging GIS for decision support systems and development.
Digital empowerment of citizens includes universal digital literacy, accessible digital
resources universally, all documents/ certificates to be available on cloud, availability
of digital resources/services in Indian languages and portability of all entitlements
through cloud.
The nine pillars of growth
1) broadband highways,
2) universal access to mobile connectivity,
3) public internet access programme,
4) e-governance - reforming government through technology,
5) e-kranti- electronic delivery of services,
6) information for all,
7) electronics manufacturing,
8) IT for jobs and
9) harvest programmes,
are being promoted under Digital India programme. The Digital India programme is
coordinated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with the
ministries and departments in the central and state governments partnering it in their
respective domain areas.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) functions around the ambit
of two major Acts.
1) The Information Technology Act, 2000
2) The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits
and Services) Act, 2016
The Information Technology Act, 2000 which provides legal recognition to the
transaction carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of
electronic communication, commonly referred to as electronic commerce which involves
the use of alternatives to paper-based methods of communication and storage of
information, to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the government agencies. It
gives provisions for the use of electronic records and digital signature with the provision
of authentication and security. It also directs the establishment of Cyber Appellate
Tribunal.
This Act was amended through the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008
which substituted the word “digital signature” with “electronic signature” with major
changes in various sections along with insertion of other sections.
In order that various benefits and subsidies reach the targeted beneficiaries, the
Government made all efforts to leverage the Aadhaar platform.
The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and
Services) Act, 2016 provides for good governance, efficient, transparent and targeted
delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for this is incurred from the
Consolidated Fund of India, to individuals residing in India through assigning of a
unique identity number to such individuals. It covers everything from the enrollment for
Aadhaar number,authentication to establishment of UIDAI which has now become a
statutory organization.

Digital India
The Digital India programme initiatives and the programmes and schemes of the Ministry
of Electronics and Information Technology could be placed into eight broad action areas.
The first related to digital identity and Aadhaar enabled services and payments, second
to transforming the quality of governance though e-governance and third to promotion of
digital payments. Promoting electronics manufacturing, promotion of IT services and
creation of IT infrastructure constitute the next set of programme initiatives. The forgoing
programmes are complemented by initiatives in R&D, human resource development
including digital inclusion and cyber security.

digital identity and

Aadhaar enabled services and payments
e-governance
promotion of digital payments
Promoting electronics manufacturing
promotion of IT services and
creation of IT infrastructure
initiatives in R&D
Digital Identity
Aadhaar provides 12 digit biometric and demographic based identity that is unique,
lifelong, online and authenticable. Under the Aadhaar Act 2016, UIDAI is responsible for
Aadhaar enrolment and authentication, including operation and management of all stages
of Aadhaar life cycle, developing the policy, procedure and system for issuing Aadhaar
numbers to individuals and perform authentication and also required to ensure the
security of identity information and authentication records of individuals. More than 116
crore Aadhaar have been generated. Aadhaar has been instrumental in the provision of
goods and services and is also enhancing and enabling digital transaction and digital
payment. Some of major initiatives are:
Aadhaar Enabled Payments : (i) Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB): A payment can be
made to a person’s bank account via his/her Aadhaar number, provided it is linked to
his/her Aadhaar number. Government of India transfers benefits and subsidies directly to
the beneficiaries’ bank account through APB. By July 2017, over 227.74 crore
successful transactions has been done over APB to remit over ₹ 71,921 crore; (ii)
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS): AEPS is the platform in which a person can
do basic banking transactions including withdrawal, deposit cash, fund transfer, etc. from
his/her bank account at Micro-ATMs using biometric authentication. Bank is chosen by
resident as it is a resident present transaction; (iii) Aadhaar Pay: It is merchant version
of AEPS. The Application works on a low cost android phone with single finger
biometric device. It enables merchant to take cashless payment from his customers. It
was launched in 2017; (iv) Pay to Aadhaar: It is a facility available on UPI platform
integrated in BHIM app. It enables Person-to-Person (P2P) remittance using Aadhaar
number of the recipient as financial address. The receiving Aadhaar number should be
linked with his/her Aadhaar number. This was also launched in 2017.
Aadhaar Enabled Services: (i) targeted delivery of food grains under PDS: Over 18.05
crore ration card holders receive ration post Aadhaar authentication. They are sure that
nobody else can claim their rations, reducing pilferage and theft in the process. Aadhaar
seeding for de-duplications and other DBT processes has removed over 2.33 crore fake
ration cards saving over ₹ 14,000 crore upto March 2017; (ii) PAHAL and Ujjwala
Scheme: Over 15.12 crore LPG beneficiaries received LPG subsidy in their bank
accounts under the PAHAL scheme. Over 2.5 crore connections were issued to BPL
women under Ujjwala Scheme; (iii) ease of opening of bank account using e-KYC:
Aadhaar has enabled this by becoming the single document which acts as KYC document
for opening a bank account; (iv) e-verification of income tax return: Aadhaar has enabled
income tax payer to e-verify their income tax return using Aadhaar OTP authentication,
obviating the need for sending the ITR-5 in a physical form to Income Tax Authorities.
e-Governance
With the advent of Digital India as an apex programme various new policy initiatives
have been taken up by MeitY such as eKranti, policy on adoption of open source
software in e-governance systems, e- mail policy, policy on use of IT resources, policy
on collaborative application development by opening the source code of government
applications, application development and re-engineering guidelines for cloud ready
applications and e-governance competency framework. Major schemes such as e-
districts, common service centres and state wide area network (SWAN) have also been
working in this direction.
Adoption of Open Source Software: It encourages the formal adoption and use of Open
Source Software (OSS) in government organizations. Accordingly government
organizations, while implementing e-governance applications and systems, are to ensure
compliance of this policy and decide by comparing both OSS and Closed Source
Software (CSS) options with respect to capability, strategic control, scalability, security,
life-time costs and support requirements.
Collaborative Application Development by Opening the Source Code of Government
Applications: This policy aims to increase the pace of e-governance application
development and rapid roll out/implementation by adopting an open-source code, for
high quality e-governance applications. It also intends to encourage innovative e-
governance applications and solutions through collaborative development.
Use of IT Resources: This policy governs the usage of IT resources from an end user’s
perspective. Its objective is to ensure proper access to and usage of government’s IT
resources and prevent their misuse.
e-mail Policy of Government: This policy lays down the guidelines with respect to use
of e-mail services of the government and employees of those state/UT governments that
use the e-mail services of GOI and also those state/UT governments that choose to adopt
this policy in future. The objective is to ensure secure access and usage of Government of
India e-mail services by its users.
Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): This is government’s approach on
the use of Open APIs to promote software interoperability for all e-governance
applications and systems and provide access to data and services for promoting
participation of all stakeholders including citizens.
e-Governance Competency Framework (e-GCF): Its toolkit contains a set of end-user
knowledge areas required for government employees. The objective of the framework is
to strengthen the capacity building scheme to identify and define competencies, through a
competency-based system which is required for different job roles under e-governance.
In order to transform the quality of services and to provide integrated services the
“eKranti” initiative aims to utilize emerging technologies such as cloud and mobile
platform and focus on integration of services. The principle of this programme is
‘transformation’ and not translation, and to provide integrated services and not individual
services. Another important initiative pertains to ‘Jeevan Praman’ is of providing an
Aadhaar based digital life certificate for pensioners. A ‘Digital Locker system’ has also
been envisaged to serve as a platform to enable citizens to securely share their
documents with service providers who can directly access them electronically. ‘e-sign’
framework has been released, which would allow citizens to digitally sign a document
online using Aadhaar authentication.
National Scholarship Portal has been developed as a one-stop solution to implement
end-to-end disbursement of the scholarship to the beneficiaries. The process includes
student registration, application, approval and disbursement. There are 52 registered
schemes from eight
ministries/departments.
In order to integrate the delivery of government services (across various departments),
an initiative called Mobile Seva has been launched. A portal called ‘Vikaspedia’ to
provide information on health, education, agriculture, energy, social welfare and e-
Governance has been developed in more than 15 languages with more languages being
added.
MyGov.in is an innovative platform launched to ensure citizens’ engagement in decision
making by the Government so that the ultimate goal of “Good Governance” for building
India is achieved. This initiative is an opportunity for citizens and well-wishers from
across the world to share their views on key issues directly with the Prime Minister.
MeitY has developed Rapid Assessment System (RAS) for continuous feedback for e-
services delivered by Government of India and state governments. This system has
multiple channels for receiving feedback and is backed by analytics.
e-Sampark Database is developed to send messages and emails to public
representatives and government employees. This database has 1.90 crore email
addresses and over 82 crore mobile numbers. The count of mailers is over 301 crore for
563 campaigns.
e-Taal is a web portal for dissemination of e-transactions statistics of national and state
level e- governance projects including mission mode projects. It receives transaction
statistics from web based applications periodically on near real time basis. e-Taal
presents quick analysis of transaction counts in tabular and graphical form to give quick
view of transactions done by various e-governance projects.
Aadhaar-Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBS): In order to bring in efficiency
in the Government, an Aadhaar enabled Biometric Attendance System was implemented
by MeitY. e- Payment Framework: All payments and receipts to be in electronic mode.
The portal payonline.gov.in envisaged as common platform for making physical
payments online.
e-Hospital - OPD Registration Framework (ORF) is an initiative to facilitate the
patients to take online OPD appointments with government hospitals. This framework
also covers patient care, laboratory services and medical record management.
e-Districts: It is one of the Mission Mode Projects(MMPs) under e-Kranti, with the
MeitY, as the nodal Ministry, to be implemented by state government or their designated
agencies. This MMP aims at electronic delivery of identified high volume citizen centric
services, at district and sub-district level, those are not part of any other MMP. It has
been launched in 634 districts and about 1012 e- Services have also been launched.
Common Services Centre: This scheme aims at providing ICT enabled front-end service
delivery outlets, across rural India covering six lakh villages. These internet enabled
centres allow doorstep access to citizens, private and social services for skill
development, education, digital literacy, health and financial services. New services
namely banking, insurance and pension under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojna have made
CSCs very vibrant. Digital Sakshartha Abhiyan (DISHA) for undertaking digital literacy
has enabled active citizen participation through CSCs. Aadhaar enrolment/update has
been enabled through CSCs. In all 3,00,774 Common Services Centres (CSCs) have
been registered across the country, among which, 1,96,922 are at Gram Panchayats level
till August, 2017.
State Wide Area Network (SWAN): SWAN has been identified as an element of the core
infrastructure for supporting the e-governance initiatives. It is operational in 34
states/UTs and average bandwidth utilization is more than 60 per cent. SWAN has been
integrated with National Knowledge Network
(NKN) in 28 states/UTs.
GI Cloud: In order to utilize and harness the benefits of Cloud Computing, the
government has embarked upon an ambitious and important initiative - “GI Cloud” which
has been coined as “MeghRaj”. The focus of this initiative is to evolve a strategy and
implement various components including governance mechanism to ensure proliferation
of Cloud in government. Formulation of the Cloud Policy is one of the primary steps that
will facilitate large scale adoption of cloud by government.
National Centre for Geo-Informatics (NCoG) provides GIS based services to
government ministries/departments. NCoG is currently involved in rolling out select GIS
based decision support system for various organizations. Base map layers for
administrative boundaries up to village level, major roads, rivers, rail on the scale of
1:10,000 across the country have been completed. So far, 21 applications across various
domains are operational.
Promotion of Digital Transactions Including Digital Payments
Promotion of a digital payments ecosystem is a natural extension of the Digital India
programme and has the potential to transform the economy by formalization of financial
transactions. Digital payments allow for services to be delivered at a lower cost, afford
greater scalability and enable small and micro enterprises to access formal financial
services and benefits of e-commerce. The government has announced the setting up of a
Mission with a target of 2,500 crore digital payment transactions through Unified
Payment Interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Aadhaar
Pay, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and debit cards.
A new educational channel “DigiShala” for creating awareness regarding various forms
of electronic payment to citizens was launched in 2016. DigiShala is now also available
on Dish TV in addition to DD Free Dish. The DigiShala is an education and non-
commercial TV channel on DD Free Dish.
The new website www.cashlessindia.gov.in was launched in 2016 to serve as a
knowledge repository providing information on different types of digital payment
methods, schemes to create awareness among citizens.
DigiDhan Melas were organised in 100 cities across the country from December, 2016
till April, 2017 with a Mega Draw of ₹ 1 crore.
The BHIM App was launched in 2016 and within a short span BHIM downloads have
crossed 20 million with transactions worth around ₹ 3000 crores. For promotion of
BHIM app at merchant end, Aadhaar Pay under new name ‘BHIM Aadhaar’ was also
launched in 2017.
A mission has been created under the name ‘Digidhan Mission’ for creation of
ecosystem for promotion of digital payments and transactions.
National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility (2013) was formulated to break
the barriers faced by differently abled persons by ensuring easy accessibility of
electronics and ICT. Electronics and ICT can mitigate the barriers faced by differently
abled persons as well as help them to participate independently in day-to-day life. The
National Policy on Electronic Accessibility recognizes the need to eliminate
discrimination on the basis of disabilities and to facilitate equal access to Electronics
and ICT. It recognizes the diversity of differently abled persons and provides for their
specific needs.
Electronics Development Fund: Electronics Development Fund (EDF) is set up as a
“Fund of
Funds” to participate in professionally managed “Daughter Funds” which in turn will
provide risk capital to companies developing new technologies in the area of electronics,
nano-electronics and Information Technology (IT). This fund is expected to foster R&D
and innovation in these technology sectors. Twenty two Daughter Funds have been
selected for investment through EDF.
IT Promotion
India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) has been launched for promotion of BPO/ ITES
operations across the country including small towns and rural areas. This will boost
creation of employment opportunities and balanced growth of Information Technology
and Information Technology Enabled Services (IT/ ITES) sector in each state. An outlay
of ₹ 493 crores upto March 2019 has been set aside.
North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS) has been initiated under Digital India
Programme, to incentivize establishment of 5000 seats in BPO/ ITeS Operations in North
East region (NER) for creation of employment opportunities and growth of IT-ITeS
Industry.
Promotion of R&D and Innovation
National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) has been initiated with an outlay of ₹ 4,500
crores which will enable the country to leapfrog to the league of world class computing
power nations. The activities would include creation of state-of-the-art HPC facilities
and infrastructure at academic/R&D institutions, development of HPC applications of
national priority for major science and engineering domains, promote R&D in HPC
leading to next generation exascale computing readiness and human resource
development to handle and spearhead HPC activities in the country.
Usage of ICT in Indian Languages
Lack of content in Indian languages is a big challenge and it was discovered that there is
lack of content creation tools. To bridge this gap under National Rollout Plan, open
source software tools have been localized and made available in the form of language
wise free of cost CDs. These are distributed by post and can also be downloaded
through http://www.ildc.in portal. The CDs contain various software tools like Libre
Office, Open Type Fonts, Unicode Typing Tool, Sakal Bharati font, Firefox Web Browser,
E-mailing Client, Graphics tool, etc., for all 22 recognized Indian languages.
e-waste Awareness Programme : The Ministry under EMDP programme initiated an
“Awareness Programme on Environmental Hazards of Electronic Waste” to create
awareness among the public about the hazards of e-waste recycling by the unorganized
sector. It was also needed to educate them about the alternate methods of disposing their
e-waste. e-waste inventory study, short modules and films are created for spreading
general awareness about the hazards of the recycling methods being used by the
unorganized sector vis-à-vis best practices available for environmentally friendly
recycling. The general public was also encouraged to participate in “Swachh Digital
Bharat” by giving their e-waste to the authorized recyclers. For this a demonstration plant
was set up in Bengaluru with participation from state government, where organized and
unorganized sector are utilizing the facility to process PCBs in safe environmentally
sound method. This is the first e-waste recycling plant in the country, carrying out printed
circuit board recycling.
National Centres of Excellence in Nanotechnology
The Nanotechnology Initiatives Division of the Ministry has established five major
centres for
excellence in research and development in Nanoelectronics (CEN) at IIT Bombay, IIT
Guwahati, IIT Delhi, IIT Chennai and IISc Bangalore for developing products/ devices
for meeting the societal requirements in the country and creating world class fabrication
facilities at nano level.
Digital Literacy
Two schemes for providing digital literacy to the masses are in place: Scheme for IT
Mass Literacy, National Digital Literacy Mission was approved in 2014. The scheme
aims to train 10 lakh persons. It was launched in 2014. Digital empowerment of citizens
by providing universal digital literacy is an integral component of the vision of ‘Digital
India’ initiative. Keeping this in view, a scheme entitled ‘Digital Saksharta Abhiyan’
(DISHA) to make 42.5 lakh persons digitally literate in selected households throughout
the country was approved.
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan: The Government has approved a
scheme titled “Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) to usher
in digital literacy in rural India by covering 6 crore rural households (one person per
household) by 2019.
Cyber Security
Millions of people in the country (both in rural and urban areas) rely on the services and
information available in cyber space. As the quantity and value of electronic information
has increased, so too have the business models and efforts of criminals and other
adversaries who have embraced cyber space as a more convenient and profitable way of
carrying out their activities anonymously. Hence, security of cyber space has become an
important part of the national agenda.
Considering its vital importance, a National Cyber Security Policy, 2013 was put in
place. It is aimed at building a secure and resilient cyber space for citizens, businesses
and government, by way of actions to protect information and information infrastructure
in cyber space, build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats, reduce
vulnerabilities and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of
institutional structures, people, processes, technology and cooperation.
Controller of Certifying Authorities
Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) are issued by Certifying Authorities (CA) who have
been licensed by the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA). The Office of CCA
empanels licensed CAs for offering eSign Services for which the legal framework and
guidelines are already in place. So far, three of the eight licensed CAs have been
empanelled by the Office of CCA for providing eSign Service.
Cyber Appellate Tribunal
In accordance with the provision contained under Section 48(1) of the IT Act 2000, the
Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal (CRAT) was established in 2006. As per the IT
Act, any person aggrieved by an order made by the Controller of Certifying Authorities
or by an Adjudicating Officer under the Act can appeal before the Cyber Appellate
Tribunal (CAT).
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
CERT-In is a functional organisation of Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of
India. CERT-In has been designated
under Section 70B of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 to serve as the
national agency to perform the following functions in the area of cyber security: (i)
collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber security incidents; (ii)
forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents; (iii) emergency measures for handling
cyber security incidents; and (iv) issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes and
white papers relating to information security practices, procedures, prevention,
response and reporting of cyber incidents.
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
C-DAC has emerged as a premier R&D organization in IT&E (Information Technologies
and Electronics) in the country working on strengthening national technological
capabilities in the context of global developments in the field and responding to change
in the market in selected foundation areas. As an institution for high-end research and
development, C-DAC has been at the forefront of the Information Technology (IT)
revolution, constantly building capacities in emerging/enabling technologies and
innovating and leveraging its expertise, caliber, skill sets to develop and deploy IT
products and solutions for different sectors of the economy.
Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research
SAMEER was set up in 1984 as an autonomous laboratory at Mumbai with a broad
mandate to undertake R&D work in microwave engineering and electromagnetic
engineering technology. It is an offshoot of the special microwave products unit (SMPU)
set up in 1977 at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. It works in
high end technology areas of RF/microwaves and allied disciplines. It undertakes design,
development and delivery of hardware to meet stringent specifications of user agencies
in its core areas of expertise including high power RF amplifiers, communication
systems, atmospheric radar instrumentation, linear accelerators, RF/
microwave/millimetre wave subsystems and systems, photonics, etc.
Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology
Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) was set up as a registered
scientific society in 1990 under the Department of Electronics (now Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology) as a unique concept for development of viable
technologies in the area of materials mainly for electronics. C-MET is operating through
its laboratories situated at Pune, Hyderabad and Thrissur. The activities at the three labs
have specific mandate within the ambit of electronic materials with the concept of
bringing out technologies from lab level to pilot plant demonstration ready for Indian
industries to take off.
Education and Research Network
Education and Research Network (ERNET) India is an autonomous scientific society of
the Ministry. ERNET has made significant contribution for the emergence of networking
in the country. In addition to providing connectivity, ERNET has been meeting the needs
of academic and research institutions by providing IT consultancy, project management
and training.
National e-Governance Division
To meet ever growing demand of e-governance across the nation, National e-Governance
Division (NeGD) was established as amalgamation of experts from the private sector
and the government. NeGD has been playing a pivotal role in discharging the key tasks
including programme management
and technical support of various components of the Digital India Programme.
National Informatics Centre
National Informatics Centre (NIC) was established in 1976, and has since emerged as a
“prime builder” of e-government/e-governance applications up to the grassroot level as
well as a promoter of digital opportunities for sustainable development. NIC, through its
ICT network, “NICNET”, has institutional linkages with all the ministries/departments
of the central government, 36 state governments/union territories, and about 650+ district
administrations of India. NIC has been instrumental in steering e-government/e-
governance applications in government ministries/departments at the centre, states,
districts and blocks, facilitating improvement in government services, wider
transparency, promoting decentralized planning and management.
Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification
Standardization, Testing, Quality and Certification (STQC) Directorate is an attached
office of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, providing quality
assurance services in the area of Electronics and Information Technology (IT) through
countrywide network of laboratories and centre(s). The services include testing,
calibration, IT and e governance, training and certification to public and private
organizations.
National Internet Exchange of India
NIXI is a not for profit organization set up under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956
(now Section 8 under Companies Act, 2013) for peering of ISPs among themselves and
routing the domestic traffic within the country. NIXI is performing the following three
activities: (i) internet exchanges; (ii) IN registry and internationalized domain names
(IDNs); (iii) National Internet Registry
(NIR).
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology
NIELIT a scientific society of the MeitY, is actively engaged in capacity building and
skill development in the areas of Information Technology (IT); electronics;
communication technologies; hardware; cyber law; cyber security; IPR; GIS; cloud
computing; ESDM; e-waste; IoT; e-governance and related verticals. NIELIT offers
courses both in the formal as well as the non-formal and is also the preferred agency for
many state governments for rolling out IT literacy programmes for its employees and the
masses.
Software Technology Parks of India
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) was set up in 1991 as an autonomous society
under the MeitY. STPI’s main objective has been the promotion of software exports from
the country. It acts as ‘single-window in providing services to the software exporters.
STPI is responsible for implementation of the Software Technology Parks (STP) scheme
and the Electronics Hardware Technology Parks (EHTP) scheme.
Media Lab Asia
Media Lab Asia has been promoted by this Ministry as a not for profit company. The
objective of the
company was set to bring the benefits of ICT to the common man. The functional
activity includes application areas such as ICT for healthcare, education, livelihood and
empowerment of disabled.
National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated
National Informatics Centre Services Inc. (NICSI) a Section 8 as (erstwhile Section 25
Company) was set up by National Informatics Centre (NIC) in 1995 as its extended arm
for providing total ICT solutions to the central and state government departments and
organizations. Its services include state- of-the-art hardware, software, consulting,
technical support, design and development, operations and management, quality check, as
well as end-to-end ICT solutions and services.

Telecommunications
Communications sector has assumed the position of an essential infrastructure for socio-
economic development in an increasingly knowledge-intensive world. The reach of
telecom services to all regions of the country has become an integral part of an
innovative and technologically-driven society. As a result of sustainable measures taken
by the government over the years, the Indian Telecom Sector has grown exponentially
and has become the second largest network in the world, next only to China.

Department of Telecommunications
Department of Telecommunication (DOT) is committed to provide secure, reliable,
affordable and high quality converged telecommunication services anytime, anywhere for
an accelerated inclusive socio-economic development. The Department is working
towards the objective of maximizing public good by making available affordable,
reliable and secure voice and data services.
Teledensity
The total number of telephone connections increased from 1059.33 million from April,
2016 to 1194.99 million at the end of March, 2017, thereby showing a net addition of
135.66 million. The mobile telephony posted a tremendous growth of 136.48 million
telephone connections from April, 2016 to March, 2017. It was 1034.11 million in
2016 and 1170.59 in March, 2017. Rural telephone connections have also increased by
54.04 million during the same period. It increased from 447.77 million to 501.81
million. With this the overall teledensity has increased from 83.40 per cent as in April,
2016 to 93.01 per cent in March 2017. The rural teledensity increased from 51.26 per
cent to
56.98 per cent in March, 2017 and urban teledensity increased from 154.18 per cent to
171.52 per cent. There was a net increase of 126.77 million in broadband connections.
It increased from 149.75 million as in 2016 to 276.52 million in March, 2017.
Internet connections added during April, 2016 to March, 2017 is 79.53 million. Total
internet connections was 342.66 million in 2016 and 422.19 million in March 2017.
Spectrum Sharing
Spectrum sharing among operators was allowed for the first time in India in 2016 to
increase spectrum efficiency. As on today, spectrum is being shared by two service
providers in 21 out of 22 service areas.
Bharat Net
For the deeper digital penetration in rural areas, the government has taken up Bharat Net,
in mission mode to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats through broadband optical
fibre network.
Right of Way Rules
The Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 was notified to regulate underground
infrastructure (optical fibre) and overground infrastructure (mobile towers). This Rule
is applicable to all telecom service providers holding a licence issued under sub-section
(1) of Section 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. These rules have simplified the
grant of right of way permissions for creation of telecom infrastructure by making it
transparent and time-bound manner.
Aadhaar Based e-KYC
Towards realising the goal of ‘green telecom’, the government has prescribed an
‘aadhaar based e- KYC services’ for issuing mobile connections from September, 2016.
Under this, a subscriber can authenticate himself using his biometrics at the point of sale
and obtain a new activated sim-card in 30 minutes. When manually done, this process
takes almost a day and involves a lot of paper work. In addition to simplifying the
process this also ensures security assurance and is an environment friendly measure
saving more than 50,000 trees annually.
Abolition of Wireless Operating License for Telecom Service Providers
To facilitate the ease of doing business, Department of Telecom has abolished the
wireless operating licence for telecom providers from 2016. This would prevent the
delay in utilisation of scarce infrastructure as radio transmission can be started
immediately on installation of base stations without waiting for obtaining clearance from
Department of Telecom.
Virtual Network Operators
The Government has issued guidelines for UL (VNO) in 2016. VNO system allows
telecom service providers to utilise their networks and spectrum efficiently by sharing
active and passive infrastructure.
Active Infrastructure Sharing
The Government has issued a notification permitting sharing of active infrastructure
amongst service providers based on mutual agreements. The active sharing will be
limited to antenna, feeder cable, Node B Radio Access network (RAN) and transmission
systems.
Panic Buttons on New Mobiles
The Government has mandated that mobile phones sold in India will come with a
dedicated ‘panic button’ that can be used to send out a signal in case of distress. The
Department has notified the Panic Button and Global Positioning System facility in all
Mobile Phone Handsets Rules, 2016, in April 2016 aimed at improving the safety of
women and ensuring a quick response from security agencies.
Mann Ki Baat
The Department has issued short code ‘1922’ for Mann Ki Baat for both voice and SMS
so that people can send their suggestions and public grievances to Prime Minister’s
office directly through this short code.
Mid-Day Meal
The Department has issued toll free short code ‘15544’, helpline for Mid-Day Meal
scheme for voice and SMS gateway.
Cash Mukt Bharat
Short code ‘14444’ has been issued as Cash Mukt Bharat helpline with an aim to bolster
government’s move towards cashless economy.
Cable TV network for Broadband Services
It is estimated that there are about 100 million cable TV subscribers in the country, out of
which only
1.06 million receive broadband services through cable network.
Reduction in Call Drops
Call drops in wireless networks happen due to various reasons including poor radio
coverage, radio interference, loading of available spectrum, change in pattern of traffic,
shutdown of sites due to power failures, etc. However, both government and TRAI are
taking all possible steps and pursuing with the TSPs to address the problem and bring it
down within the permissible limit. There has been a significant reduction in call drop
instances. A short code ‘1955’ has been allotted as Interactive Voice Response System
(IVRS) based helpline for call drops. This has been done to mitigate call drops menance
through identification of areas where call drops are supposed to be happening.
Wi-Fi Hot Spots
Community Service Centre (CSC) of DEITY has developed a model of ‘Wi-Fi
Choupal’ to develop rural Wi-Fi infrastructure and host of suitable applications
enabling and empowering towards a ‘Smart Village’. Accordingly, the Department has
now approved a proposal to setup 25,000 public Wi-Fi hot spots using the block-level
infrastructure of BSNL’s telephone exchanges in rural areas.
Research and Development
C-DOT, an autonomous body, is DoT’s R&D arm. The organisation is committed to
providing a wide range of cost-effective, indigenously developed and state-of-the-art
total telecom solutions. C-DOT has grown to the level of a national centre for R&D in
communication technology in many areas- Satellite communications, IN, ATM, DWDM,
NMS, wireless broadband, GPON, NGN and mobile cellular systems. C-DOT is also
entrusted with the projects of national importance, like central monitoring system for
telecom security and secure network for strategic applications.
DoT has the following PSUs under its administrative control: a) Bharat Sanchar Nigam
Limited (BSNL); b) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL); c) ITI Limited; d)
Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL); e) Bharat Broadband Network
Limited (BBNL); f) Hemisphere Properties India Limited (HPIL).
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), fully owned by Government of India, formed in
October 2000, provides telecom services across the length and breadth of the country
excluding Delhi and Mumbai. BSNL is providing all types of telecom services namely
telephone services on landline, WLL and GSM mobile, broadband, internet, leased
circuits and long distance telecom services. Rural
telephony is one of its focus areas. BSNL also pays special emphasis on development
of telecommunication facilities in North-Eastern region and in tribal areas as well as in
the LWE affected areas.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), set up in 1986, is a Navratna PSU and
provides telecommunication facilities in India’s key metros - Delhi and Mumbai. MTNL
is the principal provider of fixed-line telecommunication service in these two
metropolitan cities, and for GSM mobile services in four peripheral towns of Noida,
Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad along with Delhi city and the areas falling under the
Mumbai Municipal Corporation, New Mumbai Corporation and Thane Municipal
Corporation along with Mumbai city, also come under the jurisdiction of the company.
MTNL is providing triple play services i.e., voice, high speed internet and IPTV on its
broadband network.
ITI Limited
ITI Limited was established in 1948, to supply telecom equipments to the then telecom
service provider, DoT. ITI started its operations in Bangalore in 1948, which were
further extended to other areas by setting up manufacturing plants at Srinagar in Jammu
and Kashmir, Naini, Rae Bareli and Mankapur in Uttar Pradesh, and Palakkad in Kerala.
All the manufacturing plants are accredited with ISO 9001-2000 standards. The
establishment of these plants at various locations was aimed not only at the augmentation
of manufacturing capacity but also at the development of social infrastructure.
Telecommunications Consultants India Limited
Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) was set-up in 1978 with the .main
objective to provide world class technology in all fields of telecommunications and
information technology to excel in its operations in overseas and in the domestic markets
by developing proper marketing strategies, to acquire state of the art technology on a
continuing basis and to maintain leadership. It has diversified into cyber parks,
intelligent buildings, cyber and smart cities and upgradation of legacy networks by
focusing on broadband multimedia convergent service networks, entering new areas of
IT and IT-enabled services. It is also developing telecom and IT-training infrastructure
abroad.
Bharat Broadband Network Limited
Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), was
incorporated in 2012 under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 for execution of the
BharatNet for connecting 2.50 lakh (approximately) Gram Panchayats (GPs).
Digital India
The vision of Digital India aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered
society and knowledge economy. The programme will be implemented in phases till
2018. This programme has been envisaged by Department of Electronics and Information
Technology (DeitY). It would also bring in public accountability through mandated
delivery of government’s services electronically; a Unique ID and e-Pramaan based on
authentic and standard based interoperable and integrated government applications and
data basis. The source of funding for most of the e-governance projects at present is
through budgetary provisions of respective ministries/ departments in the central or state
governments. Requirements of funds for individual project(s) for Digital India will be
worked out by respective nodal ministries/departments.
Scope of Digital India
The overall scope of this programme is: a) to prepare India for a knowledge future; b)
on being transformative that is to realize IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information
Technology) = IT (India Tomorrow); c) making technology central to enabling change;
and d) on being an Umbrella Programme-covering many departments.
The programme weaves together a large number of ideas and thoughts into a single,
comprehensive vision, so that each of them is seen as part of a larger goal. Each
individual element stands on its own, but is also part of the larger picture. The weaving
together makes the Mission transformative in totality. Digital India aims to provide the
much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely: 1. broadband highways;
2.universal access to mobile connectivity; 3. public internet access programme; 4. e-
governance: reforming government through technology; 5. e-Kranti - electronic delivery
of services; 6. information for all; 7. electronics manufacturing; 8. IT for Jobs; and 9.
early harvest programmes.
Following initiatives have been taken under the Digital India programme. LIMBS (Legal
Information and Management Based System) LIMBS is an easy to access, web-based tool
for comprehensive, regulatory and proactive monitoring of court cases. It is a web-based
platform which provides a common access portal to all users having varying needs and
cutting across administration pyramids i.e., access is available right from the file dealer
to the top management. LIMBS has use friendly data entry screen for capturing the details
of court cases. Progress of court cases can be entered. Various MIS reports help to
monitor these cases. E-document vault allows user to enter the important judgement. SMS
alerts are used to sensitize the users over important issues.
National Data Sharing and Accessibility Programme
The objective of this policy is to facilitate the access to government owned shareable
data and information in both human readable and machine readable forms through a
network all over the country in a proactive updatable manner, within the framework of
various related policies. Acts and rules of Government of India, thereby permitting
wider accessibility and use of public data and information.
e-Office
The main objectives of e-office are:- (a) to improve efficiency, consistency and
effectiveness of government responses; (b) to reduce turnaround time and to meet and
demands of the citizens charter;
(c) to provide for effective resource management to improve the quality of
administration; (d) to reduce processing delays; (e) to establish transparency and
accountability; and (f) the system will automate movement of files within government
offices, etc.
 9 Defence

THE current international security environment can be

characterised as one of rapid change, continued volatility and
persistence of vast swathes of instability, compounded by
uncertainty about policies and approaches of major powers.
India continued efforts to build stronger defence partnerships
with a large number of foreign countries with a view to
addressing emerging threats and to enhance regional and
international peace and stability.
The persisting salience of trans-national terrorism remains a primary security challenge, exacerbated by the
interplay between states and non-state actors often used as proxies to spread extremist ideologies and foment
violence. Large parts of West Asia, Afghanistan and Africa are afflicted by deep instability and violence,
posing a rising threat to the stability of wider Asia and Europe. The re-emergence of territorial disputes,
including in the maritime domain, has sharpened differences between states and could lead to militaristic
approaches and challenges to norms of international law as well as standards of international behaviour. The
rise of nationalism, including in key Western nations, and continued challenges to democratic structures and
processes in several countries, could limit the efficacy of efforts for dialogue and