Have the Centre’s New Digital Platforms Modernised India's Addressing System?

New Delhi, May 27 (NationPress) On Tuesday, the government introduced two groundbreaking digital platforms — ‘Know Your DIGIPIN’ and ‘Know Your PIN Code’ — signifying a monumental advancement in the modernisation of India's addressing framework and geospatial governance.

These platforms align with the National Geospatial Policy 2022, aimed at developing an advanced geospatial infrastructure to bolster digital governance and enhance public service delivery.

“The unveiling of these applications underscores our government’s steadfast commitment to digital transformation and precision governance. DIGIPIN will revolutionise how we understand addresses, ensuring that every citizen, even in the most remote areas, is digitally identifiable and accessible,” stated Vandita Kaul, Secretary of the Department of Posts.

The DIGIPIN (Digital Postal Index Number) is a pioneering, open-source, interoperable, geo-coded, grid-based digital addressing system crafted by the Department of Posts in partnership with IIT Hyderabad and NRSC, ISRO.

This initiative is a vital part of the Department of Posts' vision to provide Address-as-a-Service (AaaS) — a suite of services related to address data management that facilitates secure and efficient interactions among users, government bodies, and private sector companies.

The ‘Know Your DIGIPIN’ portal allows users to obtain their DIGIPIN based on accurate geolocation, enabling them to input latitude and longitude coordinates to receive corresponding DIGIPINs and vice versa.

This effort streamlines location mapping, improves logistics and emergency responses, and guarantees last-mile delivery, especially in rural and underserved regions.

The DIGIPIN system has been officially endorsed and adopted by the Thematic Working Group on Address under the National Geospatial Policy 2022, and is now accessible to all Ministries, State Governments, and institutions for integration into their processes, as well as for public use, according to the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications.

Integrating DIGIPIN as an additional address attribute enhances GIS capabilities, paving the way for future GIS-based digitalisation in service delivery across various sectors in a cost-effective manner.

This system will boost location accuracy across multiple industries by offering precise geographic coordinates, ensuring accurate service delivery, and decreasing emergency response times.

The six-digit PIN Code system, established in 1972, has been the cornerstone of India’s postal delivery.

However, acknowledging the necessity for modernization and improved geographic accuracy, the Department conducted a national geofencing exercise across all postal areas to geo-reference all pin code boundaries nationwide.

As a result, the Department has launched the ‘Know Your PIN Code’ web application, which employs GNSS location features to help users identify the correct PIN Code based on their location and provide feedback on PIN Code accuracy for the ongoing enhancement of the pin code dataset.

The geo-fenced PIN Code boundaries dataset has also been made available on the Open Government Data Platform under the title “All India PIN Code Boundary geo-json”.

With this dual launch, the Department of Posts is advancing its role not only as a postal service provider but also as a crucial facilitator of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for India.