On July 1, 2015, 'Digital India' campaign was launched by Govt. of India under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to build holistic capabilities across Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, software delivery platforms and enhance IT skill sets and job creation.
The availability of ICTs and network-based services offer a number of advantages for the society in general. ICT applications, such as e-Government, e-Commerce, e-Education, e-Health and e- Environment, are considered as enablers for socio-economic development, particularly due to their ability to deliver a wide range of basic services in remote and rural areas. ICT services in schools help students gain digital skills knowledge and improve overall education standard of schools across India. Having ICT devices in schools is not enough; students must have access to those devices, which is often not the case because teachers share the belief that children will mishandle the device.
This as well is a result of lack of digital literacy among teachers who also need to be introduced to the best practices, in order to impart digital education among children. Overall reform in the education system is required to promote ICT skills among the youth of India.
To improve the situation, the government has implemented flagship schemes like “Bharat Net Project” and with the support of NGOs is looking at better ways to reach remote, rural India.
Difficulties in accessing technology resulting from inadequate technical means are faced much more by the rural communities as digital resources are unevenly distributed. Presence of high-speed internet is limited to towns and cities, while many villages struggle to get a stable signal on their mobile phones. Lack of Skilled Teacher and Infrastructure and access to tools are far dream of rural Youth and Children. In addition, the availability of broadband is almost negligible in rural areas. Rural communities in India are often the ones to be affected by the changing nature of jobs as a result of increasing automation & digitalization. They lack skills to handle the technical aspects of the jobs requiring technology skills
Research study by scholars of IIM-Tiruchirappalli shows that though mobile phone penetration has grown significantly in India, there remain sharp disparities in how the phones are used. For digital India to succeed, access to mobile phones is not enough because of the significant differences that exist in usage of the mobile phone features. For instance, many people in rural India use only the voice call feature in their phones.
It aims to bridge the digital divide, specifically targeting the rural population including the marginalized sections of society, Below Poverty Line (BPL), women and differently-abled persons and minorities. This project emphasis on implementation of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) programs & its reach to every door step at minimal cost, time & energy
Mobile e-literacy education for all is a first of its kind of project to reach thousands of rural people. The project's key approach involves developing skill trained teachers, enable access to Information and communication technology (ICT) education and related life skills at people's door step through the concept of “Knowledge, Skills and Ability” (KSA). The goal of this project is rural development, productivity, empowerment & eradication of unemployment and poverty
Consecutively for the year 2015 & 2016, Rangareddy district was listed among the backward areas by the Ministry of Finance [Ref: Deccan Chronicle]. Another article published in Deccan Chronicle from July 2020 shows the plight of Government schools in Rural Telangana in imparting online classes amidst the Covid19 lockdown. In view of such instances & survey reports, we considered villages in Hayathnagar Mandal, Rangareddy district as our target beneficiary population
Following main activities are undertaken through a concept to impart e-education at every door step:
The e-Literacy project is designed to be self-sustainable over a period of 3-4 years. The project ensures that, after its capacity building, the beneficiary communities have the capacity to sustain it on their own. Particular attention will be put on beneficiary ownership as it remains a key element of sustainability. Local experts will receive adequate training and will be encouraged to share the acquired knowledge with their peers having not participated in the capacity building training sessions (train-the-trainer approach).