Possible UPSC Questions
Prelims
- DIGIPIN, recently introduced by India Post, is:
A) a 6-digit replacement for the Postal Index Number
B) a 10-character alphanumeric geocode accurate to ~4 m × 4 m
C) an Aadhaar-linked property ID
D) a digital payment instrument for rural areas - The National Geospatial Knowledge-based land Survey of urban HAbitations (NAKSHA) is implemented under:
A) Smart Cities Mission B) Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
C) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana D) PM Gati Shakti
Mains
“Evaluate how DIGIPIN and NAKSHA can transform last-mile service delivery, urban planning and land governance in India. Identify challenges in their nationwide rollout.”
Quick Outline of Key Facts
- DIGIPIN
- 10-character alphanumeric code for every ~4 m × 4 m parcel.
- Developed by Dept. of Posts with IIT-Hyderabad & ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre.
- Open-source, interoperable, privacy-focused—stores only geocoordinates.
- Complements, does not replace, the existing 6-digit PIN (introduced 1972 by S. B. Velankar).
- “Know Your DIGIPIN” web tool and companion “Know Your PINCODE” app use GNSS (NavIC, GPS, etc.) to refine address accuracy.
- Accuracy & Technology
- Depends on the GNSS receiver (smartphone, handheld).
- GNSS constellation examples: US GPS, EU Galileo, RU GLONASS, CN BeiDou, India’s NavIC (8 satellites; SPS & restricted services).
- NAKSHA
- Launched Feb 2025 under Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme; 100 % centrally funded.
- Creates high-resolution geospatial database for urban land, using aerial surveys + GIS.
- Supports land-record certainty, urban planning, PM Gati Shakti infrastructure design.
- Use-cases: E-commerce logistics, emergency response (police/ambulance/fire), property transactions, taxation, urban utilities, disaster relief.
Summary
India’s addressing infrastructure is getting a digital overhaul. On 9 June 2025 the Department of Posts unveiled DIGIPIN, a ten-character alphanumeric geocode that can be generated for every 4 m × 4 m patch of Indian territory—urban rooftops, rural hamlets or offshore installations alike. Co-engineered with IIT-Hyderabad and ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre, each DIGIPIN encodes latitude-longitude coordinates without storing personal data, making it an open-source, privacy-respecting layer atop the familiar six-digit Postal Index Number (PIN) introduced in 1972.
Three ancillary tools accompany the launch. “Know Your DIGIPIN” lets citizens create or retrieve their code, while “Know Your PINCODE” uses GNSS location data (GPS, NavIC, Galileo, etc.) to suggest the correct traditional PIN and crowdsources errors, advancing the National Geospatial Policy 2022 goal of seamless geodata governance. Accuracy hinges on the receiver: a survey-grade device can deliver sub-metre precision, whereas a budget smartphone may vary to several metres—but even this is far finer than house-level addresses today.
Parallelly, the Union Budget 2025 announced a National Geospatial Mission. Within it, the Rural Development Ministry launched NAKSHA (National geospatial Knowledge-based land Survey of urban HAbitations) to modernise urban land records. 100 % centrally funded under the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme, NAKSHA fuses drone imagery, aerial LiDAR and ground surveys into a high-resolution GIS database, smoothing property registration, taxation and infrastructure planning. Together, DIGIPIN and NAKSHA promise to tighten India’s loosely woven address fabric—vital for e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart, as well as for ambulances navigating congested lanes or drones dropping medicines in remote villages.
Their impact extends to governance: targeted welfare delivery, more accurate disaster-relief mapping and efficient urban-utility maintenance. For business, reduced logistics costs could lift India’s ranking in the Logistics Performance Index. For citizens, precise geocodes and tamper-proof land parcels cut litigation and transaction times.
Yet challenges loom: patchy GNSS reception indoors, the need for mass digital literacy, synchronising DIGIPIN with municipal property databases, and ensuring cybersecurity of geospatial APIs. Successful roll-out will require cooperation among Centre, States, urban local bodies and private logistics players, echoing the federated model that made Aadhaar pervasive.
Significance to the UPSC Exam
- GS II – Governance: Shows digital public infrastructure improving service delivery, cooperative federalism in land records, privacy-by-design principles.
- GS III – Science & Tech / Economy: Links indigenous NavIC, geospatial policy, e-commerce logistics and blue-economy applications.
- GS I – Geography: Reinforces concepts of GNSS systems and spatial data infrastructure.
- Essay & Interview: Provides contemporary illustration of how technology can formalise the informal—addresses, land, and emergency response—advancing inclusive growth.
