ARCHIVES
VOL. 12, ISSUE 3 (2026)
Digital inclusion and rural entrepreneurship: Examining the contribution of common service centres in India
Authors
Dr. Radhakrishna Gowda V, Abhishek Suvarna
Abstract
Digital public services have become a space for new opportunities to
enhance the access to information, government services and livelihoods in rural
areas. Common Service Centres (CSCs) are one of the key grassroots platforms
which digital services are deployed to and also operate as local business
incubators for entrepreneurship. This research aims to understand the
contribution of CSCs to the promotion of digital inclusion and rural
entrepreneurship. The study specifically explores the relationship between the
extent of the CSC services and the digital inclusion, the relationship between
digital inclusion related to the CSC services and rural entrepreneurship, and
the relationship between government support and employment creation and
entrepreneurial outcomes. Frequency and percentage analysis, descriptive
statistics, Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation and regression analysis were
used to analyse the primary data that is 168 supplied observations. The
findings show a positive relationship between the breadth of services provided
in CSC and digital inclusion (β = 0.267, p < .001) and between the breadth
of services provided in CSC and rural entrepreneurship (β = 0.204, p <
.001). A positive relationship was found between digital inclusion and rural
entrepreneurship with a value of r = 0.720, p < .001. Rural entrepreneurship
was also positively correlated with government support and training (β = 0.644,
p < .001). The employment-generation indicator was not found statistically
significant for the fifth hypothesis (rural economic-development indicator) (p
= 0.211). The results indicate that while employment prospects depend on more
than just having a CSC, the role of the CSCs in supporting rural
entrepreneurship is primarily one of increased access to the digital world,
availability of services and institutional support.
Download
Pages:349-357
How to cite this article:
Dr. Radhakrishna Gowda V, Abhishek Suvarna "Digital inclusion and rural entrepreneurship: Examining the contribution of common service centres in India". International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, Vol 12, Issue 3, 2026, Pages 349-357
Pdf, Certificate, Cover Page, Index Page, Editorial Page, Accept Letter
Please enter the email address corresponding to this article submission.