Aug 6, 2025
Across India, daily life is being quietly rewritten in code, as healthcare, education, and even basic necessities shift towards digital platforms. Since the pandemic, the line between the digitally connected and the disconnected has sharpened into a fault line, resulting in the division of access and opportunity in everyday life. As technology races ahead, it doesn’t just reshape markets; it reaches to kitchens, classrooms, clinics, and ultimately altering how Indians live.
India has seen many issues exacerbate over the years, such as unequal access to digital infrastructure, the lack of privacy protections, to the low digital literacy in the education system. In a world that is growing more dependent on the artificial world, India must not leave behind those less privileged to even acquire the basic needs of survival. Technology is no longer seen as something nice to own, but a growing need to participate fully in society. This article will explore the issues that many citizens in India face when it comes to the growing digital divide.
The infrastructure exists, but access is unequal
Even as cables are laid and towers rise, many citizens of India remain in digital silence and cut off from the rest of the country who are connected to the digital infrastructure. According to Oxfam’s Indian Inequality Report, nearly 70 percent of India’s population has poor or have no access to digital services. The rural-urban gap lays out this disparity, showing that 67 percent of urban residents uses the internet, while 31 percent living in rural areas do. Internet penetration among the poorest is dismal, while 2.7 percent have a computer, and just 8.9 percent have any internet facility at home. (Oxfam)
Social divisions are no stranger to this issue as it is a culprit in worsening the exclusion between the rich and the poor. For many Dalit and Adivasi students, the classroom simply vanished during the pandemic; 4 percent of these students had access to a computer with internet when schools shut their doors. (India Development Review) Alongside this disparity comes the gender divide, as only 33 percent of women had used the internet compared to the 57 percent of men. (Hindustan Times) In rural India, the gender divide is much sharper: men are nearly twice as likely to be online (49 percent versus 25 percent). (Hindustan Times) This digital exclusion translates directly into denial of access to education, employment, telehealth, and other public goods.
The pandemic left millions behind
The pandemic didn’t just expose digital inequality in India, it turned it into locked school gates, missed vaccine slots, and left millions behind. When classrooms went online, three out of four Indian households were left scrambling, without the internet needed to keep their children learning. (Cyberpeace) Students from low-income families relied on shared devices or public WiFi, often sitting outside libraries or government buildings. These makeshift fixes left them not just vulnerable to digital threats, but constantly chasing a signal that rarely stayed long enough to count.
Healthcare, too, found itself behind a digital gate. When the national vaccine drive began, the only key in India was the CoWIN portal. By May 2021, the vaccine divide in India told its own story: for every 100 people, cities had delivered 30 doses, while the countryside lagged behind at just 12.7. (Oxfam) For millions without internet or the digital know-how, the simple act of booking a vaccine became an obstacle, as digital registration turned into a gatekeeper to access a life-saving health service.
Aadhaar and surveillance
Digitization in India has often been synonymous with Aadhaar—the world’s largest biometric ID system. While Aadhaar was initially introduced to streamline welfare delivery, it has expanded into a de facto identity document required for a wide range of services, from bank accounts to school admissions. Even with the simplified approach to accessing services digitally, many risks emerged due to the risks to privacy and autonomy. Multiple researchers argue that Aadhaar has created a "surveillance state" architecture, disproportionately targeting minority communities (Interactions).
A major case of digital exclusion was the use of Aadhaar in Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) process. Nearly 1.9 million people (many Muslims) were declared illegal immigrants. (Interactions) As part of this exercise, biometric data from over four million individuals was collected. However, many later discovered their Aadhaar enrollment had been blocked due to ‘locked’ biometric profiles, effectively cutting them off from welfare benefits. In March 2024, Assam’s Chief Minister announced a targeted crackdown on Aadhaar cardholders whose names did not appear in the NRC, raising serious concerns about the weaponization of digital ID systems against marginalized communities. (The Hindu)
Facial recognition technology has also been deployed in policing protests, most notable during the 2019-2020 anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) demonstrations in Delhi. Human rights activist Usha Ramanathan and and economist Reetika Khera warn that such tools empower the state to surveil dissenters and historically marginalized groups under the guise of public order. (Interactions) In a democracy, this level of biometric surveillance erodes civil liberties, especially among those communities already subject to systemic scrutiny.
Privacy without protections
For years, India lacked a comprehensive data protection framework. While the Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that privacy is a fundamental right (SCC Online), in practice, citizens’ data continued to be collected and shared with minimal oversight. That began to shift in August 2023, when India finally enacted the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act. (PRS India). For the first time, people were guaranteed rights over their own data, like choosing who can access it, being notified of breaches, and even correcting errors.
However, critics warn that the law still gives sweeping exemptions to the state on grounds such as national security. Justice B.N. Srikrishna, who chaired the committee that drafted the earlier version of the bill, called the final version a potential step toward an "Orwellian state" (Interactions). For marginalized users—who may not even know when their data is collected or how it is used—the risk of exploitation remains high.
Many low-income users, according to the CyberPeace Foundation, have little awareness of privacy settings and often rely on shared devices, which are conditions that leave them wide open to data breaches. (Cyberpeace) As fear and uncertainty swept through rural India during the pandemic, many turned to unfamiliar apps or casually shared OTPs. These actions may seem small, but it spiraled into financial scams and digital stalking they never saw coming. (India Times) For women, especially in conservative households, lack of private access to smartphones translates into little or no digital privacy at all. (Cyberpeace)
The lack of literacy
Even when infrastructure exists, digital literacy remains a core barrier. According to the India Development Review, only 38% of households in India are digitally literate. (India Development Review) The illiteracy rate is even worse among rural, female, older, and tribal populations. For instance, Adivasis have overall literacy rates around 40%, with even lower digital literacy. (Re-publica)
Language remains a major barrier. Aadhaar materials, for example, were not available in any of India’s 200+ indigenous languages. As a result, many Adivasi elders enrolled in the biometric ID system without any informed consent in a language they could understand. (Re-publica) These knowledge gaps result in communities unwittingly consenting to invasive data practices.
The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA). a flagship government program for digital literacy, has made progress. By 2022, more than five crore citizens had gone through digital training, yet only around four crores made it through to online certification. (Ministry of Electronics & IT) Many point out that the training often stops at surface-level tasks, like unlocking a phone or making a digital payment. These trains do not equip users for deeper digital engagement that can encourage users to protect themselves and their fights online. Few modules cover data privacy, security, or misinformation in regional languages.
Government efforts and civil society
From rural broadband to privacy laws, the government has launched a patchwork of digital initiatives. BharatNet, billed as the world’s most ambitious rural broadband push, envisions wiring up more than 250 000 village panchayats, bringing the internet to places where even roads are rare. By 2023, broadband lines reached more than 210,000 village panchayats, a major progression for digital inclusion. (USOF) For many families, getting online is still a daily uphill climb: signal drops, expensive data packs, and outdated devices all make the digital space out of reach.
The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system channels welfare funds directly into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, streamlining delivery in an efficient way. Although this project assumes that every person is digitally equipped to keep up. During the pandemic, individuals in the richest 60 percent bracket were four times more likely to make digital payments than those in the lowest. (India Development Review) The initiative left many demographics vulnerable to the digital divide, but its intended function was to do the opposite. With no bank account, no smartphone skills, and no Aadhaar, many marginalized communities continue to experience the brunt of inequality in their daily lives.
Grassroots organizations and rights-based groups have stepped in where the state has fallen short, building local networks and pushing for digital equity from the ground up. From translating content into local dialects to setting up rural Wi-Fi hubs and training digital volunteers, NGOs are building the scaffolding for communities to engage with the digital world on their own terms. Judicial interventions have also offered some relief: in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar cannot be mandated for private services like telecom or school admissions, placing a partial check on overreach.
Women-centered NGOs are reshaping India’s digital landscape by helping rural women access and engage with technology on their own terms. The Digital Empowerment Foundation’s efforts, such as training programs under Digital Didi and Digital Sarthak, have supported women in taking on roles as educators, entrepreneurs, and local guides in digital spaces. (DEF India) Many women who once borrowed phones now run digital help desks in their villages, showing others how to fill out online forms, send money safely, or run a WhatsApp-based business. For them, learning tech was just the start. It’s helped them earn respect, push back against old norms, and become go-to problem solvers in their homes and neighborhoods.
Toward Digital Justice
India’s leap into a data-driven future cannot come at the cost of its most vulnerable citizens. Access to the internet is now inseparable from access to health, education, financial inclusion, and democratic participation. But if digital platforms and policies continue to ignore language, gender, caste, geography, and ability, they risk entrenching old hierarchies in new forms. Solving the digital divide requires more than building broadband. India needs to push for equity-centred policies, efficient safeguards in digital spaces, community-based digital literacy education, and needs to be built for the people, not against them. In a democracy, inclusion is not optional—it is the benchmark of legitimacy. If India is to be truly digital, it must also be truly inclusive.
Sources:
“Bharatnet Project - Features, Services & Phases.” Akal Info - Blog, 17 Sept. 2024, www.akalinfo.com/blog/bharatnet/#:~:text=BharatNet%20Project%20,OFC.
Bhardwaj, Prachi, et al. “9-Judge Bench Declares Privacy as a Fundamental Right; Information, Family Life, Sexual Orientation Are All Part of Privacy [Judgment].” SCC Times, 17 Nov. 2019, www.scconline.com/blog/post/2017/08/24/9-judge-bench-declares-privacy-as-a-fundamental-right-information-family-life-sexual-orientation-are-all-part-of-privacy-judgment/.
Bureau, The Hindu. “Assam CM Announces Crackdown on Aadhaar Cardholders Not in the NRC.” The Hindu, 27 Apr. 2025, www.thehindu.com/news/national/assam/assam-cm-announces-crackdown-on-aadhaar-cardholders-not-in-the-nrc/article69497337.ece.
“DEF Logs.” Digital Empowerment Foundation, DEF, www.defindia.org/deflogs/.
Fernandez, C. Puri H. Prak, S. United Nations Development Programme and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. India’s Digital Public Infrastructure: A Policy Perspective. UNDP, Feb. 2025, https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2025-02/undp-icrier_policy_brief_31.pdf.
Kale, Arundhati. “Addressing the Digital Privacy Divide: The Need to Redefine Digital Equity.” CyberPeace, www.cyberpeace.org/resources/blogs/addressing-the-digital-privacy-divide-the-need-to-redefine-digital-equity.
“No Digital Rights If You Are Marginalized in India.” Republica, https://re-publica.tv/de/session/no-digital-rights-if-you-marginalized-india#:~:text=Adivasis%20and%20many%20other%20minority,19
Outreach of Pmgdisha, Ministry of Electronics & IT https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1843847
Oxfam India. India Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide. Dec. 2022, https://d1ns4ht6ytuzzo.cloudfront.net/oxfamdata/oxfamdatapublic/2022-12/Digital%20Divide_India%20Inequality%20Report%202022_PRINT%20with%20cropmarks.pdf?3l.73PGQrpQfYrnwWeoXV3BFjhETfA_p.
Panigrahi, Subhashish. “Marginalizedaadhaar: India’s Aadhaar Biometric ID and Mass Surveillance: IX Magazine Issue XXIX.2 March – April 2022.” ACM Interactions, 1 Feb. 2022, https://interactions.acm.org/enter/view/marginalizedaadhaar#:~:text=,and%20discriminating%20against%20minority%20communities
“The Digital Divide and Is It Holding Back Women in India?” Hindustan Times, 16 Jan. 2022, www.hindustantimes.com/ht-insight/gender-equality/the-digital-divide-and-is-it-holding-back-women-in-india-101641971745195.html.
“The Digital Divide in India: From Bad to Worse?” India Development Review, 26 June 2025, https://idronline.org/article/inequality/indias-digital-divide-from-bad-to-worse/
“The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023.” PRS Legislative Research, 10 July 2025, prsindia.org/billtrack/digital-personal-data-protection-bill-2023.
“The Pitfalls of Technology in India.” India Development Review, https://idronline.org/article/inequality/the-pitfalls-of-technology-in-india/
“Unaware Indians’ Privacy at Risk, Lockdown Gives Rise to Online Spying & Stalking Apps.” The Economic Times, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/unaware-indians-privacy-at-risk-lockdown-gives-rise-to-online-spying-stalking-apps/articleshow/77078977.cms?from=mdr