India's public edtech platform DIKSHA has a private bottleneck

Conceptualised by Aadhaar's architects, DIKSHA is the Indian government's edtech platform. As the Centre pushes states to adopt it, though, the limitations of this open source platform are becoming glaringly obvious

DIKSHA, India's first free to use public edtech platform hit 10 million downloads in 2020. It's growth has been meteoric during the pandemic

Owned by the government, DIKSHA is both an app and a platform. Created by Aadhaar's architects, DIKSHA's roots lie in the private sector

In 2020, the central government doubled down on the use of DIKSHA as a primary mode of home-based learning. It's day-to-day use though is buggy

DIKSHA's promise of decentralising control to states hasn't quite worked out. Instead, EkStep Foundation still holds the key to any fundamental changes to the platform

DIKSHA’s had a stellar few months. In February 2021, the Indian government’s edtech app hit 10 million installs. That traction helped it break into the top 5 education apps being downloaded on the Google Playstore. That kind of growth—just three years removed from its launch in 2017—would make any private edtech app green with envy. Unlike its for-profit peers, though, DIKSHA is 100% free to use, and owned and operated by the Ministry of Education (MoE).

A screen shot from Google Playstore app rankings, taken on 5 February, 2021 (Source: Similar Web)

DIKSHA, or Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing, isn’t just an app though.

AUTHOR

Olina Banerji

Based in Delhi, Olina writes about mega-trends in urban mobility, education, skilling and the environment, with a focus on how institutions and innovations can help cities grow sustainably. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, and has worked previously with India Today and global non-profit Ashoka.

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