Which digital platform of Ministry of Education has been formed by merging three consortia initiatives, namely UGC-INFONET Digital library consortium, NLIST and INDEST-AICTE consortium?

The correct answer is e-Shodh Sindhu.

e-Shodh Sindhu is a digital platform launched by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, specifically under the initiative of the University Grants Commission (UGC). It was formed by merging three major consortia initiatives that were previously operating separately to provide digital library resources to Indian academic and research institutions.

The three consortia that were merged to form e-Shodh Sindhu are:

1. UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium — This was established by the UGC and managed by INFLIBNET (Information and Library Network Centre). It provided access to e-resources (e-journals, e-books, databases) to universities across India.

2. NLIST (National Library and Information Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content) — This was a project of INFLIBNET aimed at providing access to e-resources to colleges and other institutions not covered by UGC-INFONET.

3. INDEST-AICTE Consortium (Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Sciences and Technology) — This was managed by IIT Delhi and funded by AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), providing e-resources specifically to engineering and technology institutions.

In 2016, these three separate consortia were merged into a single, unified platform called e-Shodh Sindhu. This merger was done to streamline digital resource delivery, avoid duplication of subscriptions, reduce administrative overhead, and expand the reach of e-resources across a wider range of Indian institutions — including universities, colleges, and technical institutes.

Now let us understand why the other options are incorrect:

• Shodh Ganga — This is a reservoir/repository of Indian electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), maintained by INFLIBNET. It is a platform for uploading and accessing research theses, not a merged consortia platform for e-journals or digital libraries.

• E-Vidwan — This is a national database of experts/researchers in India, used for identifying subject-matter experts. It has nothing to do with merging digital library consortia.

• Shodh Shuddhi — This is a plagiarism detection software/tool provided by INFLIBNET to Indian universities to check the originality of research work. It is not related to the merger of the three consortia.

Therefore, e-Shodh Sindhu is the correct answer, as it is the only platform that was specifically created by consolidating the three mentioned consortia — UGC-INFONET Digital Library Consortium, NLIST, and INDEST-AICTE Consortium — into one unified digital library access initiative under the Ministry of Education.