In a State where female literacy rate struggles to go above 55.62 per cent, use of Internet and android phones by rural women seems a far cry.

However, with a sharp increase in the penetration of Internet, more and more Government and non-Governmental agencies are moving online and expanding their reach to the people in the State.

Under the ‘Internet Saathi’ programme, Google India in collaboration with Tata Trust and PHIA Foundation has been digitally empowering the lives of the rural women in the State by educating them on how to use the Internet.

The programme seems to be a game changer for the rural society in Jharkhand given the fact that more than 7.5l rural women, residing in 3,720 villages of the State, have been taught to make use of the Internet.

Now, more and more women are becoming digitally empowered and also educating the people around them. They are using the Internet in knowing about different government schemes and their benefits, learning new recipes, listening to songs and watching videos they like.  They are even learning to use the android voice assistant, ‘Ok Google’. They are making use of their smartphones in doing all the mathematical calculations faster and efficiently.

Google India, through their agencies, provides access to gadgets (tablets and smartphones) and training to these Internet Saathis who have been selected by the PHIA foundation.

 Each saathi gets three villages under her with a target of training 400-500 females in those villages. Tata Trust provides the monetary support for human resource management and capacity building.

Commenting on this unique collaboration, State Manager – PHIA foundation, Johnson Topno said, “Internet Saathi programme is aimed at educating the women in the rural areas of the State to use the Internet in enhancing their daily activities by learning new things of their interests and remaining updated with all the Government programmes.

So, women who have little knowledge of handling devices are targeted and are oriented to get accustomed to their smart devices.” 

The first phase of the ‘Internet Saathi’ programme was launched in August 2017, in 480 villages, along with 160 Saathis covering 110,850 women in the villages of Deoghar district. By April 5, 2018, training programmes have been completed in 10 districts, namely; Deoghar, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Sahibganj, Dumka, West Singbhum, Palamu, Gumla, Simdega and lohardaga. Till now,

Consultant – Tata Trust, Rajdeep, said, “Our aim is to spread digital literacy to the women living in villages so that they feel empowered.

Through this unique initiative, women are becoming self-confident and learning from examples available on the Internet from across the world. We plan to expand the ‘Internet Saathi’ programme to 3l villages across India, by March 2019.”

The women, whose lives have transformed by this programme, claim that Internet has helped to make their day to day activities much simpler. Neha Kumari residing in a village near Dhanbad has completed her intermediate. She has the knack for tailoring and loves stitching clothes for herself. Having a smartphone, she knew very little on how to make the most out of it.

After getting trained by a ‘Saathi’, she now uses the Internet for exploring new set of trends for cutting and designing of clothes. She says, “Internet has completely changed my life and made it much simpler. I find it very useful in conducting my day to day activities.”