Digital divide in India: Need for correcting Urban bias

Abstract

A digital library is a capital- and technology-intensive project. It is a great challenge to develop digital libraries in countries like India in light of the problems of shrinking budget; high initial and recurring expenditure; and social and economic problems of illiteracy, population growth, poor health conditions, inadequacy of resources for development programs, and weak infrastructure. While access to digital information is possible in more than two hundred cities in India, "voice telephony" is still a major medium of information transfer in villages. This paper discusses the social and economic issues that need to be considered to bridge this digital divide between rural and urban populations in order to ensure sustainable development of the country.