CM Ashok Gehlot Unveils Inc42’s Digital Rajasthan Yatra Report III

To showcase how digitalisation is changing the face of Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot unveiled the third edition of Inc42’s Digital Rajasthan Yatra report on March 20th during Rajasthan IT day 2023, an event organised by the state government to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and technological innovation in Rajasthan. 

In November 2022, a five-member team from Inc42 embarked on a 12-day, 3,000 KM journey across seven major cities of the state — Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Bharatpur, Jaipur and Bikaner – to explore how digital adoption is improving lives and empowering the citizens of Rajasthan with new opportunities. 

During our journey, we spoke to nearly 50 individuals, including students, farmers women, the elderly and entrepreneurs to understand the impact of digitalisation on them.

The coffee table book primarily highlights how the state’s smart governance initiatives, such as E-Mitra, a PPP-based e-governance scheme, are helping the unserved and underserved citizens to seamlessly avail the benefits of all social and public welfare schemes. 

The book also sheds light on the state’s flagship universal healthcare coverage initiative, the Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana, and how it is delivering healthcare services and infusing a sense of trust in not only the marginalised sections of society but also women and the elderly of the region.

We have captured how the increased internet penetration in the state is helping more and more students access a sea of scholarships, boosting businesses and employment opportunities, and financial inclusion.

Key Insights From Inc42’s Digital Rajasthan Yatra Report 3.0

• Empowering Women Through Digital Reforms: The Rajasthan government is leveraging digitalisation to empower more and more women in the state. Female heads of families can use Jan Aadhaar card, a unique identity card, to avail of government benefits. Further, Hindi language interfaces ensure mass access to this digital ecosystem. 
• Vital Healthcare For The Masses: Rajasthan has developed a robust digital backend to enable seamless access to medical records, healthcare services and health insurance benefits. The Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana encompasses a wide network of hospitals, trained medical staff and service professionals to ensure fast and efficient delivery of healthcare services.
• E-Learning Methods Shaping The Future Of Learning: During the pandemic, Rajasthan was quick to switch to online methods of teaching and learning, thanks to the widespread usage of the internet and smartphones. Not only this, private players such as edtech unicorns BYJU’S and Unacademy played a pivotal role in promoting hybrid learning in Rajasthan’s learning hub Kota. The state now seems to be ready to extend its new and enhanced teaching and learning methods to its hinterlands.  
• E-Governance For Resource Management: The self-service kiosks available at E-mitra plus centres have been instrumental in making sure people are the beneficiaries of all cash and non-cash benefits. Features like Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) can be further widened to enable people to make micro and small payments and receipts at roughly 79K kiosks across 33 districts of the state.
• Technology Transforming Agri Practices: Rajasthan’s e-governance ecosystem enables the deployment of cash and non-cash benefits for farmers through Jan Aadhaar Cards. Farmers can apply for subsidies, get benefits through linked bank accounts and manage the paperwork related to agricultural land. 

Digitalisation At Its Core 

The Rajasthan government is making proactive efforts to boost internet and smartphone penetration in the state. In September 2022, the government of Rajasthan announced that it will distribute free smartphones with internet access to 1.35 Cr women under Mukhyamantri Digital Seva Yojana.

Since 2017, the state government’s iStart mission has been instrumental in creating more than 20K jobs and facilitating investments worth INR 24 Cr to 400+ startups. Further, its mega-events, such as the ongoing IT Day, offer a proactive forum to students, businesses, investors and other stakeholders in the technology ecosystem to interact, engage and forge connections.

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