The role of technology in the emergence of the information society in India

Purpose - India is the largest democracy in the world with a population of 1,027 million people, of which 35 per cent are still illiterate. The paper describes the role that information and communication technologies are playing for Indian society to educate them formally or informally which is ultimately helping India to emerge as an information society.Design methodology approach - The basic approach has been a literature review to find the historical situation and present the prevailing scenario as well as the change that are taking place with the application of ICT to the advantage of the society in different areas including daily life.Findings - The paper briefly describes the changes that are taking place with the application of ICT to the advantage of the society in different areas including daily life. It briefly describes the various initiatives taken in various states and union territories of India to take advantages of ICT.Originality value - The paper provides the clear picture of India and Indian endeavours to adopt the new technologies to become an information society.