A Study of the Digital Divide and Its Impact on Social Inequality in Contemporary Society

The present study aims to explore the concept of Digital Divide and its impact on social inequality in the present-day society, especially in India. Internet connectivity has been rapidly expanded during the process of digitalization but despite this, there are still disparities in connectivity, capacities and outcomes in the country in terms of gender, income, caste and rural-urban divide. The aims are to examine the level of inequities in terms of access to and use of digital tools across social groups and to understand how inequities perpetuate social inequalities. Two hypotheses were formulated: Access disparity and socio-economic correlation. A descriptive-analytical methodology was used to identify the national and global trends from secondary data obtained from government surveys and international agencies so that triangulation can be achieved. The results are shown in six data tables and one hypothesis-testing summary and indicate significant differences between rural and urban areas, between men and women and between the skills and non-skills in line with the existing socio-economic stratification. They are interpreted using resources-and-appropriation theory, which connects unequal access to digital resources to unequal outcomes in education, employment and welfare provision. The study concludes that the digital divide cannot just be understood as a technical issue, but as a reflection and exacerbation of the social inequalities of society and the policy intervention should be multidimensional not just related to the infrastructure.