Published January 31, 2026 | Version v1
Journal Open

Government Initiatives for Women's Digital Literacy in India: A Critical Review

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Deputy Director, IGNOU, Regional Centre Saharsa
  • 2. Associate Professor, Chanakya National Law University, Patna
  • 3. Assistant Professor, Patna Women's College Autonomous, Patna
  • 4. Lecturer, Govt. Polytechnic Kaimur

Description

Digital literacy has become a necessary condition for educational participation, financial inclusion, access to welfare schemes, employment, entrepreneurship, and citizenship in contemporary India. For women, digital literacy is not merely a technical skill; it is linked with agency, mobility, access to information, safety, public participation, and economic empowerment. The Government of India has launched several initiatives under the broader Digital India framework to expand digital access and digital capability, including the National Digital Literacy Mission/Digital Saksharta Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan, Common Service Centres, digital financial inclusion programmes, skill-development schemes, and women-oriented livelihood platforms. This paper critically reviews major government initiatives for women’s digital literacy in India. It uses a documentary and analytical method based on official reports, government releases, policy documents, and scholarly literature. The paper argues that government initiatives have significantly expanded the scale of digital literacy training, especially through PMGDISHA, which trained 6.39 crore individuals against a target of 6 crore by 31 March 2024. However, women’s digital literacy remains constrained by gendered access to devices, internet use, mobility, language, socio-cultural norms, safety concerns, and the gap between basic digital literacy and meaningful digital empowerment. The paper concludes that women’s digital literacy policy must move beyond one-time training and certification toward sustained, locally supported, safety-conscious, livelihood-linked, and gender-transformative digital capability.

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Additional details

Dates

Available
2026-01-31

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