A Digital Dream For The Future

The pandemic has accelerated the pace at which technology is becoming normal in our everyday lives. Workplaces are rapidly shifting to digitally enabled solutions, education and medical consultations going online, and contactless digital transactions being preferred over physical cash. These are just a few examples of how technology is quickly establishing a ubiquitous presence.

However, the pandemic has also exposed a stark digital divide, leaving a large proportion of India’s population out of this paradigm shift. As per the Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators report, the total number of internet subscribers per 100 people in urban India is 101.74. While rural India is only 33.99. Further, the report reveals that only 4.4% of rural households own a computer and only 14% of them have an internet connection.

Though the availability of digital infrastructure plays a crucial role in bridging the existing gaps, it is equally important to build digital skills among the Indian population to be able to take advantage of this infrastructure.

Improving the digital literacy rate in India

Any individual who can operate a computer/laptop/tablet/smartphone or use other IT related tools is considered digitally literate. According to reports, only 38% of Indian households are digitally literate. In rural India, only 25% of the population are equipped to use technology.

Apart from the poor access to technology and related skills, the literacy rate among women presents a huge challenge. Across the world, over 700 million women are illiterate. Digitally empowered women have a greater capacity to respond to spread knowledge around the community, get hired for jobs, and develop the capacity to make strong decisions.

BharatCares, a non-profit organisation in India is working towards empowering underprivileged women and girls. Under their initiative BharatCareer, the Computer Training and Digital Literacy Program provides basic computer and digital literacy training for girls and women who have either dropped out from school or are currently pursuing their education.

The onsite training program opens up avenues for housewives and married women who want to get hands-on training in the digital literacy space. The one-month onsite training program led by instructors makes these women and girls digitally ready by providing training on basic computer skills, skills needed to navigate a smartphone, to create an email account and use it effectively, to make digital payments and more.

Since the launch of the initiative, a few months ago, four batches have been trained and more than 140 women benefited from the same.

Roshini Muthukumar

Roshini Muthukumar, a native of Chennai, started her career as a content writer but made a switch to journalism to pursue her passion. She has experience writing about human interest stories, innovative technology, entrepreneurs, research blogs, and more. Previously, Roshini has done internships with The Hindu, Metroplus and worked as a correspondent with The Better India.