In which year was the Digital India mission launched?

Correct — B. The Digital India programme was launched on 1 July 2015.

Its three stated vision areas are digital infrastructure as a utility for every citizen, governance and services on demand, and the digital empowerment of citizens.

Everything filed under the name — DigiLocker, UMANG, BharatNet, the common service centres — hangs off that 2015 launch, so option (b) is the year.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  2017 — 2017 is too late. Digital India was launched in 2015 and was two years into its rollout by then.
• (c)
  2014 — 2014 is the year of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (2 October 2014) and Make in India (25 September 2014). Digital India came the following summer.
• (d)
  2016 — 2016 is the year of demonetisation and of the UPI rollout, which are often bundled into the Digital India story. The mission itself was launched a year earlier.

Digital India is an umbrella programme, not a single scheme, which is why so many familiar names sit under it.

Its three vision areas are digital infrastructure as a core utility, governance and services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens. The nodal ministry is the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

This item wants the launch year, so anchor 1 July 2015. Scheme questions also turn on the nodal ministry, the state or the amount, so do not learn the dates alone.

Key facts

• Digital India was launched on 1 July 2015.
• Its nodal ministry is the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Its three vision areas are digital infrastructure as a utility, governance and services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens.

Common traps

• Answering 2014 because that is when the government took office.
• Folding demonetisation and UPI, both of 2016, into the launch date of Digital India.

No directly related past PYQ was found.