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Digital divide refers to the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital and information technology and those without this access. It encompasses both physical access to technology hardware and, more broadly, skills and resources which allow for its use. The main goal of this study is to understand the disparities faced by the rural Indian population in respect to their urban counterparts. Factors like infrastructure facilities, gender, level of education, access to the technology, language disparity and lack of ICT skills have contributed to the digital divide. In India the use of IT and computerisation began in 1978. In 1985 the Government of India decided to increase the pace of IT use at the district level. Despite of it, the benefits are yet to be reaped by the rural Indians. The genesis of digital divide is rooted in the primary concern over the rising problem of digital technologies being available to only the urban strata of the society. The study affirms that the rural Indians are far behind in terms of the infrastructure facilities to use the ICT tools. Access to information in society is not uniform and thus the society had got divided into the information 'haves' and 'have-nots', leading to a kind of digital divide which is the major concern for the government.
Introduction
India, a union of states, is the second-most populous nation in the Asian region with a total population of 1.21 billion and rural area is home to 69 percent of India's population that accounts for 833 million.1 The country has achieved impressive progress in the field of science and technology and is emerging as one of the strongest economies in the developing world. Information and communication technologies have brought significant changes in development of the Indian society through information dissemination. ICT is a tool for augmenting communication networking, educational prospects and livelihood opportunities for all, especially the marginalized. It has indeed, played a key role in the socioeconomic development, especially in the developing countries like India. The review of the related literature (Bellamy and Taylor, 1998; Fors and Moreno, 2002; Kuttayan and Rao, 2003) sufficiently indicates that in developing countries, ICT has tremendous potential to generate growth by bringing in efficiency in public administration, generating...