Digital India and Transparency in Governance: Opportunities and Challenges

सार

This study examines the role of the Digital India initiative in enhancing transparency in governance, with a focus on digital payment systems such as UPI. The study uses data collected from secondary sources between 2016 and 2024. It includes information on the number of UPI transactions, the total value of those transactions, the number of banks involved, and measures of corruption.

The study looks at trends and uses a statistical method called Pearson Correlation Coefficient to see how digital payments are connected to corruption. The results show that as digital payment systems like UPI grow, corruption tends to decrease, meaning more people using digital financial services is linked to less corruption. The study emphasizes that Digital India has substantial potential to improve transparency and accountability in governance.

However, there are still some problems like the gap in access to technology, dangers from online threats, and not enough knowledge about these issues. The paper ends by offering ideas to improve digital systems and encourage wider use of digital tools so that governance works better.