Making one person in every family digitally literate is one of the integral components of the Prime Minister ‘s vision of “Digital India”.
The Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA) or National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) Scheme has been formulated to impart IT training to 52.5 lakh persons, including Anganwadi and ASHA workers and authorised ration dealers in all the States/UTs across the country so that the non-IT literate citizens are trained to become IT literate so as to enable them to actively and effectively participate in the democratic and developmental process and also enhance their livelihood.
Altogether 52.5 lakh persons, including Anganwadi and ASHA workers and authorised ration dealers will be trained under the programme in two phases. In the first phase, 10 lakh beneficiaries will be trained under the scheme. Out of this, 6.3 lakh beneficiaries will be trained on Level 1 and 2.7 lakh beneficiaries will be trained on Level 2. Nine lakh beneficiaries will be eligible for training fee support from the government. The rest 100,000 beneficiaries will be trained by the industry and civil society partners. Under Phase II, 42.5 lakh persons will be trained, which also includes Anganwadi and ASHA workers and authorised ration dealers.
Definition of DIGITAL
LITERACY
Two levels of training under the Sheme
The two levels of IT training envisaged under the Scheme will have the following broad objectives:
Appreciation of Digital Literacy (Level 1)
To make a person IT literate, so that he/ she can operate digital devices, like mobile phones, tablets, etc., send and receive emails and search Internet for information, etc.
Basics of Digital Literacy (Level 2)
Besides IT literacy at a higher level, the citizen would also be trained to effectively access the various e-Governance services being offered to the citizen by the Government and other agencies.
Eligibility Criteria
Level 1 : Non-IT literate – Illiterate and upto 7th standard pass
Level 2 : Non-IT literate with atleast 8th standard pass
Age : 14 to 60 years
Course Duration
Level 1 : 20 Hours (Minimum 10 Days and Maximum 30 Days)
Level 2 : 40 Hours (Minimum 20 Days and Maximum 60 Days)
Medium of Instruction
Level 1 and 2 : Official Languages of India
Fee
Level 1 : For SC/ ST/ BPL Households, no training fee payable and for General candidates, course fee of Rs. 125 applicable.
Level 2 : For SC/ ST/ BPL Households, no training fee payable and for General candidates, course fee of Rs. 250 applicable.
Place of Learning
The eligible households can nominate one person from their family. The selected person to get himself enrolled under this programme in a nearest Training Centre/ Common Service Center (CSC).
Evaluation
Independent external evaluation will be conducted by a National level certifying agency like NIELIT, NIOS, IGNOU, etc.