The Government of India has adopted a Digital India vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society & knowledge economy. To realise this vision, it is imperative that the focus be sharpened on the use of innovative digital initiatives to not only enable governance & services on demand, but also to empower citizens.

Indian government entities at all levels - Centre, State & local bodies - continue undertaking various initiatives to fulfil the Digital India vision. Due recognition should be accorded to such digital initiatives along with the teams that help build & implement them.

Digital India Awards (DIA) presents an opportunity to bring to the fore such digital initiatives. These awards are instituted under the aegis of National Portal of India to encourage and honour innovative digital solutions by government entities at all levels. DIA 2022 aims to inspire and motivate not only government entities but also startups in fulfilling the Digital India vision.

The seventh edition of the Digital India Awards witnessed more firsts, the most distinctive being the conferring of the awards in person by the Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu. The awards ceremony was held in the presence of the Hon'ble President, and Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, Railways, and Communications, Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Rajesh Gera, Director General, National Informatics Centre (NIC), and all the 22 awardee teams in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi along with many Government officials who participated to celebrate the exemplary efforts of the winners. The awards were onboarded to the Rashtriya Puraskar portal for the first time.

This edition witnessed the awards being conferred on 22 teams across seven categories. These 22 digital initiatives exhibit the inspirational spirit of a resurgent nation, emerging stronger after the pandemic, and empowering all citizens including the differently abled to experience the fruits of digital governance that include a better quality of life, enhanced ease of doing business, safer & secure access to authentic & open information from Government entities even at grassroots level, in the farthest corners of the country.