Does Digital India Deliver in Improving Government Front-End Services?

Common Service Centres (CSCs) have proliferated across the country under the Digital India Initiative. They are meant to provide easy access to several administrative services through private operators. We investigate if digitisation and privatization of these services improves citizen’s experiences and if this model is feasible in the long term in Jharkhand. Our survey findings show a mixed picture from the citizens perspective. Even though citizens like the accessibility aspect of CSCs, they do not get timely and low-cost delivery of basic government services. Overcharing is rampant and users faced several hardships in applying for services. From the perspective of CSC operators, the model of only commission-based payments is unsustainable. Based on our field work and talking to various stakeholders we make recommendations to improve the PK model that will expand the scope of these centres, and improve transparency and accountability.