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Subject: e-Governance

  • CPGRAMS Report for States/UTs (June 2026)

    Why in News?

    The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) released the 47th monthly report on the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) for States/UTs for June 2026.

    Key Highlights

    • Public Grievances Received: 96,190
    • Grievances Redressed: 93,170
    • Pending Cases (30 June 2026): 2,16,032
    • 23 States/UTs have over 1,000 pending grievances.
    • Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest disposals (31,460), followed by Maharashtra (7,619).

    CPGRAMS

    • CPGRAMS is an online grievance redress platform of the Government of India.
    • Developed and monitored by DARPG.
    • Enables citizens to submit and track grievances against government departments.
    • Integrated with over 5 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) through 2.5 lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs).

    Sevottam Scheme

    • Capacity-building initiative to improve public service delivery and grievance redress.
    • FY 2022-23 to FY 2026-27 (till June): 1,196 training programmes conducted. Around 39,509 officers trained.

    Other Highlights

    • 83,544 new users registered on CPGRAMS in June 2026.
    • Feedback Call Centre collected 75,318 feedbacks, including 33,092 from States/UTs.
    • 6,262 grievances were registered through CSCs.
    • A dedicated Review Module for senior-level monitoring has been operational since 6 June 2025.

    Prelims Facts

    • DARPG: Department under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
    • CPGRAMS: National online portal for public grievance redressal.
    • Sevottam Scheme: Focuses on improving service delivery and grievance redress mechanisms in government.

    [2021] With reference to the Union Government, consider the following statements:
    1. N. Gopalaswamy Iyengar Committee suggested that a minister and a secretary be designated solely for pursuing the subject of administrative reform and promoting it.
    2. In 1970, the Department of Personnel was constituted on the recommendation of the Administrative Reforms Commission, 1966, and this was placed under the Prime Minister’s charge.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    [A] 1 only

    [B] 2 only

    [C] Both 1 and 2

    [D] Neither 1 nor 2

  • Why India must modernise the way the government publishes laws and regulations 

    Why in the News?

    India’s legal publishing system still runs on PDF-based gazettes, a format created in the early 1990s, forcing citizens, lawyers and even courts to search scattered notifications to determine which provisions of law are actually in force. In one documented case, sections of a 2005 amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure remained unnotified and legally void for more than two decades without public knowledge. This exposes a gap between the constitutional promise that laws be knowable in advance and the administrative reality of an opaque, print-oriented publishing format.

    Why must a law be knowable before it can be enforced?

    1. Historical precedent: Mahatma Gandhi’s first act against the 1906 Transvaal “Black Act” was to translate and publish the ordinance in full in Indian Opinion, so that Indians could read exactly what was being done to them.
    2. Underlying principle: A community cannot defend its rights against a law it cannot read.
    3. Constitutional expectation: Bills before Parliament or a State Assembly are meant to be made known to the people in advance of enactment.
    4. Practical breach: Bills are often not placed in the public domain before they are introduced.
    5. Judicial dimension: The judiciary is expected to know the state of the law it adjudicates, which presupposes that the state of the law is discoverable.

    Where does India’s legal publishing system actually fail?

    1. Fragmentation: Laws governing citizens include Acts and their amendments, rules, regulations, BIS standards, road standards, circulars and municipal bylaws.
    2. No single source: There is no single place to find out what the law actually is; it lies scattered across multiple websites.
    3. Discovery problem: Citizens struggle to find the law currently in force.
    4. Historical-state problem: Even after locating a copy, determining what the law was on a given date is a separate and difficult exercise.
    5. Primary publishing channel: Government uses gazettes as its primary means of publishing laws and bringing them into force.

    Can a provision bind citizens if its own government cannot confirm it is in force?

    1. Case origin: A legal publisher was incorporating changes made by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005 into the principal Act.
    2. Search failure: The amendment left it to the government to decide when its various sections would come into force, and no gazette notifying Sections 16, 25, 28(a), 28(b), 38, 42(a), 42(b), 42(f)(iii) and (iv), and 44(a) could be found.
    3. RTI confirmation: An RTI application to the Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that these sections have never been notified.
    4. Legal consequence: More than two decades later, these sections are still not valid law.
    5. Systemic implication: If a central ministry itself cannot demonstrate whether a provision is in force, publication by gazette has failed at its most basic function.

    What technical flaw locks Indian law into this opacity?

    1. Format origin: Gazettes are published as PDFs, a format created in the early 1990s to ensure a digital document looks identical on every device by embedding fonts and images.
    2. Print-fidelity trade-off: This makes PDFs easy to share and print but very hard to extract the structure and meaning of a legal document from.
    3. Lost hierarchy: A law is inherently hierarchical, with chapters, parts, sections and subsections, but a PDF exposes none of that hierarchy.
    4. Language barrier: Many gazettes published in regional languages use proprietary fonts that display correctly on a PDF viewer but cannot be searched in that regional language or read on most websites.
    5. Amendment tracking: A format that cannot expose structure also cannot show precisely what changed across successive amendments to an Act.

    What do global legal-publishing models demonstrate is possible?

    1. Akoma Ntoso, Africa: Many African countries have adopted the Akoma Ntoso standard, a markup language designed specifically for legal documents; Akoma Ntoso is an open markup format that encodes a law’s structure, semantics and language rather than only its printed appearance.
    2. Indigo platform, Africa: These countries use Indigo, an open-source legal publishing platform that lets users add or edit laws and see precisely what changed across an Act’s successive amendments, with subordinate rules tagged to their principal Act.
    3. USLM, United States: The United States publishes every law and amendment in USLM (United States Legislative Markup), a variant of Akoma Ntoso, generating PDF and HTML versions automatically from it using a stylesheet.
    4. Federal Register, United States: All past issues of the Federal Register have been converted into this format and made available for bulk download, allowing commercial legal vendors, nonprofits and think tanks to build citizen-facing tools on top of it.
    5. CLML, United Kingdom: The United Kingdom publishes its legislation at legislation.gov.uk, run by The National Archives, using Crown Legislation Markup Language (CLML), another modified version of Akoma Ntoso.
    6. Convergence toward one standard: The National Archives has stated it aims to move towards Akoma Ntoso itself, since Akoma Ntoso is emerging as the international standard, is less complex, and is supported by a wider pool of experts and suppliers.

    What is at stake for Indian democracy if this publishing model is not upgraded?

    1. Structural lag: While the rest of the world has moved away from PDF publishing, India remains dependent on a standard built more than three decades back.
    2. Persistent barrier: Until the government upgrades its legal publishing software stack, access to the law will remain unnecessarily difficult for citizens, lawyers, judges and other stakeholders in a democracy.
    3. Precedent from the internet: The internet itself was built on open standards, which every stakeholder came together to adopt.
    4. Ambedkar’s distinction: Dr B.R. Ambedkar reminded that a democracy needs more than a government “for the people”; it needs a government “by the people.”
    5. Contractor-capture risk: Laws are the raw material of democracy, and leaving their publication to a handful of contractors will only deepen the obscurity around them.
    6. Reform payoff: If the government instead consults citizens and standardises legal publishing, it could transform how the state communicates with the people and make them active participants in democracy.

    Conclusion

    The central failure identified is not the absence of law but the absence of a reliable way to know the law: India’s PDF-and-gazette-based publishing system leaves entire provisions practically undiscoverable even as they legally bind citizens. Other democracies have already shown that open, structured legal markup standards (Akoma Ntoso, USLM, CLML) can make a law’s text, hierarchy and amendment history transparent and machine-readable. Until India upgrades this publishing infrastructure, the rule of law will remain formally intact but practically inaccessible, with its administration effectively outsourced to a narrow set of contractors rather than opened to citizens.

    PYQ Linkage

    [UPSC 2018] E-Governance is not only about utilization of the power of new technology, but also much about critical importance of the ‘use value’ of information. Explain.

    Linkage: The PYQ argues that e-governance’s value lies in making information usable, not merely digitised. The article’s central claim mirrors this exactly, PDF gazettes are digitised but not structurally usable, while open markup standards make the “use value” of legal information real.

  • Delhi High Court declines interim injunction against OpenAI in ANI copyright suit

    Why in News?

    The Delhi High Court refused to grant interim relief to ANI in its copyright infringement case against OpenAI, holding that AI training on copyrighted content is covered by the fair dealing exception under the Copyright Act.

    Key Highlights

    • Justice Amit Bansal held that using ANI’s content to train Large Language Models (LLMs) falls under Section 52(1)(a) of the Copyright Act, 1957.
    • The Court found that ANI failed to prove any loss to its news syndication business.
    • ANI had earlier offered OpenAI a content licence for $7.5 million, indicating any potential damages are quantifiable.
    • The Court rejected ANI’s request to delete training data, noting OpenAI’s legal obligations under US law.
    • It observed that requiring licences from every copyright holder would make AI development economically unviable and highlighted AI’s public benefits in sectors such as education, healthcare, agriculture, and finance.
    • The Federation of Indian Publishers, Digital News Publishers Association, and Indian Music Industry joined the suit.

    Fair Dealing (Section 52, Copyright Act, 1957)

    • A statutory exception permitting limited use of copyrighted works without the owner’s permission.
    • Applies to purposes such as:
      • Private or personal use (including research)
      • Criticism or review
      • Reporting current events

    Copyright vs Patent

    • Copyright: Protects original literary, artistic, musical, dramatic works, films, and software.
    • Patent: Protects new inventions, granting exclusive rights generally for 20 years.

    Copyright Act, 1957

    • Governs protection of literary, artistic, musical, dramatic works, films, sound recordings, and software.
    • Grants creators exclusive rights over reproduction, adaptation, distribution, and communication of their works.
    • Section 52 provides exceptions under the doctrine of fair dealing.

    PYQ (2014, GS3, 12.5 Marks) In a globalised world, intellectual property rights assume significance and are a source of litigation. Broadly distinguish between the terms copyrights, patents and trade secrets.

    [2026] Which of the following statements with regard to Large Language Models (LLMs) used in machine learning is/are correct?
    1. LLMs assign probabilities to the next possible words and then pick the one with the highest probability.
    2. LLMs process data through mathematical optimization to minimise prediction errors.
    3. LLMs produce unbiased outputs.
    Select the answer using the code given below :

    [A] 1 only

    [B] 1 and 2 only

    [C] 2 and 3 only

    [D] 1, 2 and 3

  • Telecom infra data can’t be shared outside India, says Govt

    Why in News?

    The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated that telecom infrastructure providers store and process telecom network data only within India.

    Key Highlights

    • DoT barred telecom infrastructure providers from sharing telecom network data outside India.
    • Covers cloud-based telecom networks, mobile tower operators, and satellite gateway providers.
    • Mandates that all telecom network systems, data, logs, and related information be stored within India.
    • No copies of such data can be routed, shared, or made available outside the country.
    • Issued under the authorisation framework of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, replacing the earlier licensing regime.

    Data Localisation

    • Refers to storing and processing data within the country’s borders.
    • Benefits:
      • Strengthens national security and cyber resilience.
      • Improves regulatory oversight and law enforcement access.
      • Enhances protection of critical digital infrastructure.
    • Challenges:
      • Higher compliance costs for companies.
      • Concerns over cross-border data flows and global cloud operations.

    Telecommunications Act, 2023

    • Replaced the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
    • Introduces an authorisation-based regime instead of licensing.
    • Aims to strengthen telecom security, spectrum management, user protection, and digital infrastructure governance.

    PYQ (2018, GS3, 15 Marks) Data security has assumed significant importance in the digitized world due to rising cyber crimes. The Justice B. N. Srikrishna Committee Report addresses issues related to data security. What, in your view, are the strengths and weaknesses of the Report relating to protection of personal data in cyberspace?

  • Zomato’s platform fee, delivery levy no abuse of dominance: CCI

    Why in News?

    The Competition Commission of India (CCI) ruled that Zomato’s platform fee, delivery charges, and commissions do not amount to abuse of dominant position or anti-competitive conduct.

    Key Highlights

    • CCI dismissed a consumer complaint against Zomato/Eternal over platform fees and price differences.
    • The higher online price was attributed to delivery charges, platform fee, and GST.
    • Restaurants stated that Zomato charges around 33% commission, leading some to increase online menu prices.
    • CCI held that online food delivery and in-person dining are distinct markets, making price differences commercially justifiable.
    • Mere price variation does not constitute an abuse of dominant position under competition law.

    Abuse of Dominant Position (Competition Act, 2002)

    • Dominance itself is not prohibited; only its abuse is.
    • Examples include:
      • Imposing unfair or discriminatory prices.
      • Limiting production or technical development.
      • Denying market access.
      • Leveraging dominance in one market to enter another.

    Competition Commission of India (CCI)

    • Statutory body established under the Competition Act, 2002.
    • Came into effect in 2009.
    • Objective: Prevent anti-competitive practices, prohibit abuse of dominant position, regulate combinations (mergers and acquisitions), and promote fair competition.

    PYQ (2023, GS2, 10 Marks) Discuss the role of the Competition Commission of India in containing the abuse of dominant position by the Multi-National Corporations in India. Refer to the recent decisions.

    [2022] With reference to foreign-owned e-commerce firms operating in India, which of the following statements is/are correct?
    1. They can sell their own goods in addition to offering their platforms as market-places.
    2. The degree to which they can own big sellers on their platforms is limited.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    [A] 1 only

    [B] 2 only

    [C] Both 1 and 2

    [D] Neither 1 nor 2

    [D] 1, 2, 3 and 4

  • Is corruption the biggest threat to India’s future?

    Why in the News?

    Thousands of students have been protesting since the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak earlier this year, reviving memories of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. The question arises whether the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 has delivered on its promise of accountability or whether institutions meant to enforce it have been weakened.

    Has digitalisation reduced petty corruption?

    1. No reduction on the ground: Digitalisation has been pushed as a “magic wand” but has not prevented corruption; bribery remains an “open secret” in government offices.
    2. A new barrier for the marginalised: Digitalisation has added a layer excluding the poor, the marginalised, and the unlettered, who cannot fill forms online and must pay private cafes “obnoxious amounts” for government services.
    3. No grievance redressal law: Parliament discussed a grievance redressal law in detail in 2014, but it has still not been enacted.

    How has the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 weakened the RTI Act?

    1. Original balance in the RTI Act: The Act’s original 87-word definition of personal information allowed such information to be denied to citizens, but not to Parliament or state legislatures.
    2. Judicial reinterpretation: The Girish Ramchandra Deshpande Supreme Court judgment was misread to mean all personal information could be exempted from disclosure.
    3. Privacy without balance: The K.S. Puttaswamy judgment recognised a fundamental right to privacy without a balancing test against the right to information.
    4. Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988: The Prevention of Corruption Act’s Section 19, which required sanction for prosecution, was joined in 2018 by Section 17A, which requires government permission even to investigate corruption charges against a public servant. (Section 17A bars police from conducting any inquiry or investigation into corruption allegations against a public servant without prior government approval. This applies specifically to decisions or recommendations made in their official capacity)

    Why does corruption remain low-risk despite these laws?

    1. Historical conviction data: A 2008 study of the CBI’s anti-corruption branch performance from 1980 to 1984 found 280 people accused in courts, of whom 144 were convicted, with investigations averaging 13.4 months but the first trial averaging 88 months.
    2. Near-zero incarceration: The same 2008 study found only four people had been in prison for more than 20 days.
    3. Heavy Right To Information (RTI) use, weak enforcement: About six million RTI requests are filed annually in India, the highest of any country, and the Act has played a role in exposing the Vyapam scam, the Adarsh Housing Society scam and the electoral bond scheme.
    4. Captured agencies: Certain analysts distate that the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Lokpal have been “compromised” and are not tackling big-ticket corruption cases.
    5. Lokpal’s cost without output: Public evaluations point out that while the anti-corruption body has historically consumed ₹50-60 crore annually (with a revised budget allocation of ₹30 crore for the fiscal year 2026-27), it has struggled to deliver major, high-profile convictions.

    Is institutional weakness a cause or consequence of corruption?

    1. Vacant appointments: The government delayed filling key posts, leaving the transparency watchdog short-staffed or non-functional for long periods.
    2. Non-transparent appointments even after court orders: Courts repeatedly directed the administration to make timely appointments to prevent the Right to Information (RTI) framework from becoming ineffective. Post-intervention selections often proceeded without fully disclosing applicant vetting details or selection criteria to the public.
    3. India’s rule of law ranking: India’s 79th rank in the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index highlights foundational weaknesses in fundamental rights, civil justice, and institutional checks on executive power. ( According to the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2025 report,India has slipped to 86th position out of 143 countries globally. India has slipped six places compared to last year (79th rank).)

    Conclusion

    Corruption remains India’s biggest governance risk not for lack of transparency law. But this is because the institutions meant to enforce it, Information Commissions, the Lokpal, the CBI and the ED, have been weakened through non-transparent appointments, the DPDP Act’s rollback of RTI disclosures, and Section 17A’s added layer of protection for public servants. The remedy lies in enforcement: judicial delays cut to under a year, transparent Information Commissioner appointments, and withdrawal of the DPDP Act’s amendments to the RTI Act, 2005.

    PYQ Relevance

    [UPSC 2020] Recent amendments to the Right to Information Act will have profound impact on the autonomy and independence of the Information Commission”. Discuss.

    Linkage: Examines the impact of legal and institutional changes on the effectiveness of the RTI framework and transparency in governance. The article directly analyses how the DPDP Act, 2023 has diluted the RTI Act, weakened Information Commissions, and reduced transparency, thereby increasing the accountability deficit in combating corruption.

  • LokOS: Digital Backbone for Rural Livelihoods

    Why in News?

    The Government highlighted LokOS, the digital platform under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), for strengthening governance, transparency, and financial inclusion of Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

    What is LokOS?

    • LokOS (Lok = People, OS = Operating System) is a web and mobile platform for end-to-end digitisation of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations.
    • Implemented under DAY-NRLM of the Ministry of Rural Development.
    • Digitises member records, savings, loans, repayments, livelihoods, and convergence with government schemes.

    Key Features

    • End-to-end digital management of SHGs, Village Organizations (VOs), and Cluster Level Federations (CLFs).
    • Aadhaar and bank-linked digital IDs for members.
    • Real-time recording of savings, loans, and repayments.
    • Livelihood profiling and scheme convergence.
    • Role-based administration and real-time dashboards.
    • Digitally tracks nearly ₹2 lakh crore worth of SHG financial transactions annually.

    SHE-LEAPS

    • Self-Help Entrepreneur Livelihoods and Enterprise Application for Prosperity and Sustainability (SHE-LEAPS) launched on 29 June 2026.
    • Operates under LokOS.
    • Supports women SHG members in enterprise creation, business management, and performance tracking.

    Coverage

    • Covers 34 States/UTs, 762 districts, 7,241 blocks, 2.57 lakh Gram Panchayats, and 5.92 lakh villages.
    • Digitally integrates: 94.16 lakh SHGs, 5.62 lakh Village Organizations, 34,314 Cluster Level Federations, and 10.03 crore SHG members

    [2023] Consider the following statements:
    1. The Self-Help Group (SHG) programme was originally initiated by the State Bank of India by providing microcredit to the financially deprived.
    2. In an SHG, all members of a group take responsibility for a loan that an individual member takes.
    3. The Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Commercial Banks support SHGs.
    How many of the above statements are correct?

    [A] Only one

    [B] Only two

    [C] All three

    [D] None

  • MY Bharat (Mera Yuva Bharat)

    Why in News?

    The Government highlighted the achievements of MY Bharat (Mera Yuva Bharat) as India’s digital platform for youth engagement, volunteering, leadership, and nation-building.

    What is MY Bharat?

    • Launched in October 2023 under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
    • A Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) platform connecting youth with government, educational institutions, NGOs, and industry.
    • Aims to empower Amrit Peedhi through volunteering, skill development, experiential learning, and civic participation.

    Key Features

    • Digital Volunteerism: Over 1.52 lakh volunteering opportunities (June 2026). Supports online registration, geo-tagging, attendance, certificates, and impact tracking.
    • Experiential Learning: More than 24,900 Experiential Learning Programmes (ELPs). Offers internships, apprenticeships, industry exposure, quizzes, and competitions.
    • Leadership & Career Support: Viksit Bharat Youth Parliament for leadership development. AI-powered resume builder and mentoring. Multilingual quizzes on governance, Constitution, and public policy.

    Major Initiatives

    • MY Bharat MY Vote campaign for voter awareness.
    • Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2026 with over 50.42 lakh participants.
    • Nari Shakti Youth Parliament engaging 7,000+ young women.
    • Supports NSS, Nasha Mukt Bharat, Yoga Day, cleanliness drives, and padyatras.
    • Facilitated youth participation at the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2026.

    Digital Achievements

    • Guinness World Record (2026): Most users taking an online quiz in one week (390,812 participants).
    • Mobile app available in 22 Indian languages.
    • Over 1 lakh app downloads (July 2026).
    • Provides digital badges, certificates, and verified participation records.

    Future Roadmap

    • MY Bharat 2.0 will leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), multilingual technology, open APIs, and digital credentials.
    • Targets empowering 100 million youth in line with Viksit Bharat@2047.

    [2016] Regarding DigiLocker’, sometimes seen in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?
    1. It is a digital locker system offered by the Government under Digital India Programme.
    2. It allows you to access your e-documents irrespective of your physical location.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    [A] 1 only

    [B] 2 only

    [C] Both 1 and 2

    [D] Neither 1 nor 2

  • MANAS (Madak Padarth Nishedh Asoochna Kendra)

    Why in News?

    The Government highlighted the achievements of MANAS (Madak Padarth Nishedh Asoochna Kendra), the National Narcotics Helpline, as a technology-driven platform supporting the vision of a Nasha Mukt Bharat through citizen participation, digital reporting, counselling, and rehabilitation.

    What is MANAS?

    • MANAS (Madak Padarth Nishedh Asoochna Kendra) is India’s National Narcotics Helpline.
    • Launched: 18 July 2024.
    • Implemented by: Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
    • Developed in collaboration with the Digital India Corporation (DIC).
    • A secure digital platform for:
      • Reporting drug-related offences.
      • Seeking counselling.
      • Accessing rehabilitation support.

    Key Features

    • Accessible through: Helpline: 1933, Official web portal, Email, and UMANG app
    • Allows anonymous reporting of Drug trafficking. Drug peddling. Illegal cultivation of narcotic plants.
    • Addiction-related calls are transferred to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s de-addiction helpline (14446).
    • Features: Digital ticket generation. Workflow management. Smart IVRS (under development). Chatbot support. Multilingual and regional language assistance (being expanded).

    [2024] Consider the following activities:
    1. Identification of narcotics on passengers at airports or in aircraft
    2. Monitoring of precipitation
    3. Tracking the migration of animals
    In how many of the above activities can the radars be used?

    [A] Only one

    [B] Only two

    [C] All three

    [D] None

  • Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) & APAAR

    Why in News?

    The UGC mandated all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to upload students’ academic credits to the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) portal by 30 June 2026, highlighting the progress of ABC and APAAR under NEP 2020.

    Academic Bank of Credits (ABC)

    • A digital repository of academic credits established by the Ministry of Education and regulated by the UGC.
    • Enables students to store, transfer and redeem academic credits earned from recognised institutions.
    • Supports multiple entry and exit, credit mobility and lifelong learning under NEP 2020.

    APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry)

    • A unique 12 digit student ID under the One Nation, One Student ID initiative.
    • Linked with Aadhaar, DigiLocker and the ABC system.
    • Stores academic records from school, higher education and skill education.
    • 26.3 crore verified APAAR IDs generated (June 2026).

    How ABC Works

    • Students receive an ABC/APAAR ID.
    • HEIs upload credits directly to the ABC portal.
    • Credits can be transferred across institutions.
    • Credits remain valid for 7 years (or as prescribed).
    • Certificates are issued through the National Academic Depository (NAD).

    Key Features

    • Credit transfer across institutions.
    • Multiple Entry and Exit (MEE): Certificate: 1 year, Diploma: 2 years, Degree: 3 or 4 years
    • Up to 40% credits can be earned through SWAYAM.
    • Aligned with the National Credit Framework (NCrF).
    • Secure digital records through NAD-DigiLocker integration.

    Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

    • Part of Digital India.
    • Supported by: DigiLocker, NAD, CSCs, SAMARTH ERP
    • Future integration with Bharat Praman Chain (India’s sovereign blockchain platform) for tamper-proof academic credentials.

    [2022] Consider the following:
    1. Aarogya Setu
    2. COWIN
    3. DigiLocker
    4. DIKSHA
    Which of the above are built on to open-source digital platforms?

    [A] 1 and 2 only

    [B] 2, 3 and 4 only

    [C] 1, 3 and 4 only

    [D] 1, 2, 3 and 4