Social Inclusion and e-Governance: A Case Study in Alirajpur District

There are several reasons for social and economic exclusion of citizens, and digital divide is one of the most important one. Digital divide is a social issue which denotes the varying amount of information between those who have access to the Internet (especially broadband access) and those who do not have access. Broadly speaking, the difference is not necessarily determined by the access to the Internet, but by access to ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) and to Media that the different segments of society can use. It describes a gap in terms of access to and usage of ICT. It was traditionally considered to be a question of having or not having access, but with a global mobile phone penetration of over 95%, it is becoming a relative inequality between those who have more and less bandwidth and more or less skills. In this modern world marked by a growing need for ICT skills at all levels, there is an increased need to bridge the digital divide. ICT is so tightly woven into the fabric of society today that its deprivation can rightly be considered one of twentieth century social deprivations, such as low income, unemployment, poor education, ill health and social isolation. To consider ICT deprivation as somehow less important underestimates the pace, depth and scale of technological change, and overlooks the way that different disadvantages can combine to deepen exclusion. One of the most challenging tasks being faced by India is digital divide. This paper presents an approach which has been followed by district administration in the district of Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The significance of Alirajpur district is that it is the least literate district in the whole country. Average literacy rate of Alirajpur in 2011 is 36% compared to 31% of 2001 [1, 2]. It can be safely inferred that if positive results can be obtained in Alirajpur district, then it is very likely that better results can be obtained in any other district of the country.