The Congress chief accuses the Modi government of making lofty claims while hiding glaring gaps in execution, digital access and data security

NEW DELHI — On the day the Narendra Modi government’s flagship ‘Digital India’ initiative completed ten years, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday launched a blistering attack, alleging that the ambitious programme has delivered more “failures and frauds” than digital empowerment.

Digital India is a flagship programme of the government launched on July 1, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

In a sharply worded post on his X handle, Kharge accused the Modi government of making lofty claims while hiding glaring gaps in execution, digital access and data security.

“The fine print of Modi Govt’s lofty claims of ‘Digital India’ is marred by unfulfilled promises, digital exclusion, and weakened transparency,” Kharge wrote.

Citing official data, Kharge highlighted that out of the 6.55 lakh villages targeted for broadband connectivity under the BharatNet project, only 35 per cent have been covered so far, despite the deadline being revised eight times over 11 years.

“Only 766 Gram Panchayats — just 0.73 per cent — have active Wi-Fi services,” he noted.

The Congress chief also targeted BSNL’s performance, pointing out that even after receiving three revival packages worth over Rs 3 lakh crore since 2019, the PSU has not completed the...

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