India’s e-governance architecture

The document analyzes India's reliance on the Aadhaar biometric ID system and the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) initiative to deliver social welfare and emergency aid. It highlights the deployment of the Aarogya Setu contact-tracing app during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent concerns regarding data privacy, the lack of a legal data protection framework, and the potential for 'function creep' through the National Health Stack.

• India's e-governance is built upon Aadhaar, the world's largest biometric ID project, which assigns a 12-digit number to residents based on fingerprints and iris scans to improve service delivery and reduce corruption.
• The Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) initiative integrates bank accounts, Aadhaar IDs, and mobile numbers to facilitate direct cash transfers, including emergency aid provided under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan (PMGK) scheme during the pandemic.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government launched the Aarogya Setu app for contact tracing and health assessment; it was downloaded over 120 million times by May 2020 and later served as an e-pass for travel.
• There are significant concerns regarding the privacy of health data, specifically that information from the Aarogya Setu app would be automatically transferred to the National Health Stack (NHS), a cloud-based registry of personal health data.
• India lacks a comprehensive legal framework for data protection, as a proposed Personal Data Protection Bill from 2019 was withdrawn on 3 August 2022.
• The shift toward digital-only service delivery risks exacerbating social and digital divides for populations that lack smartphones.

APA

Kolås, Å. (2022). India’s e-governance architecture. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9007f393-4cad-4c38-9eb7-4625c7dc858d/Kolas - Indias Biometric ID Post-Pandemic Integrations PRIO Policy Brief 5-2022.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Kolås, Åshild. India’s e-governance architecture. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2022. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9007f393-4cad-4c38-9eb7-4625c7dc858d/Kolas - Indias Biometric ID Post-Pandemic Integrations PRIO Policy Brief 5-2022.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kolås |first1=Åshild |title=India’s e-governance architecture |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=May 2022 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9007f393-4cad-4c38-9eb7-4625c7dc858d/Kolas - Indias Biometric ID Post-Pandemic Integrations PRIO Policy Brief 5-2022.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kols2022indias, author = {Kolås, Åshild}, title = {{India’s e-governance architecture}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/9007f393-4cad-4c38-9eb7-4625c7dc858d/Kolas - Indias Biometric ID Post-Pandemic Integrations PRIO Policy Brief 5-2022.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }