Tata Trusts, Google launch internet literacy campaign for rural women

Tata Trusts and Google India have launched 'Internet Saathi', a programme to empower women and their communities in rural India. The companies will enable women to use the Internet and benefit from it in their daily lives.

The joint initiative is aimed at bridging the technology gender divide, which currently puts women in rural India at further risk of getting marginalised in  society as the world around them benefits by going online.

The initiative will kick off from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand and will be rolled out across the country eventually reaching out to over 4,500 villages and 5 lakh women and rural communities across rural India over the next 18 months.

An internet cart will be available in village for a minimum of two days every week for over a period of four to six months. It will create awareness and also try to ensure that adequate training is provided to use the devices till women are confident of using the devices independently.

Once the cart has completed the training in a cluster of three villages, it will move to an adjoining cluster for a similar period.

''While women are making rapid progress on adoption of Internet in urban areas, women in rural India are getting left behind, says Rajan Anandan, vice president and managing director of Google South East Asia and India."

Anandan, adds, "Today only 12 per cent of Internet users in rural India are women. We need to come together to address this challenge and empower women in rural India through training and programs that can truly transform their lives.''

''We are delighted to partner with the most respected and well known Tata Trusts who have years of experience in managing programs of this scale. By combining our strengths, I am confident that we can achieve great results and overcome the challenges of providing easy access and digital education to women in rural India,'' he added.

The initiative will provide basic training on the usage and benefits of internet for women through specially designed Internet cycle carts which will be used to visit areas in villages where women can easily access and also learn more from the Internet.

Built on the back of a cycle, the Cart is modeled on India's traditional distribution system that is used to carry everything from ice-cream to industrial supplies. The operator or the 'Internet Saathi' would be akin to the village postman who was the single point contact for the village with the outside world both in terms of information as well as communication.