Building an Inclusive Digital Society for Rural India

Digital inclusion implies that individuals and communities can access and adopt technology to improve their socio-economic status. India, like most emerging markets, has benefitted immensely from the diffusion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) diffusion. In rural areas, communication services can often compensate for other infrastructural deficits, catalysing growth. However, market failures in rural areas, magnified by poor connectivity and lack of digitalization, demand policy intervention. Following customary global practice, the Indian government, has made universal broadband a priority objective