94.2 pc rural households possess phone
Nearly 6.39 crore people were imparted digital literacy between 2017 and 2024 under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), enabling them to send messages and attach files on mobile phones.
The beneficiaries under the DISHA scheme also included field- level Government functionaries namely Anganwadi and ASHA workers and authorised ration dealers, said Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada in a recent reply in Rajya Sabha.
Highlighting the outcomes of the scheme, he said that the maximum number of 1.45 crore people in Uttar Pradesh were imparted digital literacy. It was followed by 74.12 lakh beneficiaries in Bihar.
Maharashtra with 53.23 lakh beneficiaries, Madhya Pradesh with 50.69 lakh and Rajasthan with 39.70 lakh beneficiaries were the other major participating states under the scheme, he said.
He said a survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) between July 2022 and June 2023 had shown that among persons aged 15-24 years, around 78.4 per cent reported execution skill of sending messages – e-mail and SMS – with attached files like documents, pictures and video.
The Minister said the survey also showed that about 94.2 per cent of rural households and about 97.1 per cent of urban households possess telephone and/or mobile phone.
The Minister said as many as 1.74 lakh Anganwadi workers, 54,329 ASHA workers and 12,154 ration dealers were trained under the DISHA scheme.
Presenting state-wide data, Prasada said a maximum of 30,642 Anganwadi workers benefitted in West Bengal, followed by 27,125 in Tamil Nadu and 18,630 in Uttar Pradesh.
The Minister said the maximum number of 8,223 ASHA workers benefitted from the digital literacy scheme in Maharashtra, followed by 5,654 in Uttar Pradesh and 3,607 in West Bengal.
The maximum number of 1,949 ration dealers benefitted from the scheme in Assam, followed by 1,938 in Chhattisgarh and 1,360 in Maharashtra, he said.