“I could only dream of using a computer” said Amina Khatun, a 13 years old girl who lives with her parents in Jai Hind Camp of New Bengal Basti. Amina was astonished when she first used a computer in the Community Information Resource Centre (CIRC) established by Digital Empowerment Foundation in collaboration with United Way…
This is an excerpt from the book The New Normal: How to Survive a New World Order In the months following the ‘lockdown’ there has been a spurt of webinars discussing what it is that the judiciary will have to do in a post-Covid world; how technology can be used to get the process of…
Risk Communication and Community Engagement is a project by DEF that has actively intervened in dealing with the pandemic at the village level by creating awareness about the precautions and busting the myths. In this regard, the youth of the village have proved to be great carriers of the message who have engaged to help…
SoochnaPreneur is an initiative with a vision of supporting, strengthening and enhancing the capacities of grassroots communities to access and avail information and entitlements in critical areas of health, education, social and financial inclusion, livelihood and employment. A 28-year-old SoochnaPreneur from Ranikhatanga village of Jharkhand, Tarana Nazmi wishes to become the Sarpanch (Village Head) of…
SoochnaPreneur is a rural entrepreneurship-based project aimed at empowering youth in Indian villages to sustain their livelihood by providing information and access to government entitlements to those living in information darkness. Hemalata Sharma is a 38-year-old from Pipradamaina village in Guna district who has been working as a SoochnaPreneur for the last five years. She…
Motivated by the success of the SoochnaPreneur program DEF launched the Samarth SoochnaPreneur program that aims to empower PwDs (Persons with Disabilities) to become SoochnaPreneurs. Oftentimes PwDs are discriminated against, especially in rural parts of the country where DEF is most active. This program aims to fight the stigma that comes with a disability that…
The STEM for Girls project has been introduced in the states of Assam and Telangana by DEF with an intent to not just orient students towards STEM but designed in such a way that it serves as a catalyst to bring changes in the way education and professional careers are perceived. The stories of young…
As a facilitator of the STEM for Girls project pointed out, “Schools and colleges work to prepare students to become responsible citizens and active participants in the economic processes. But the question of aligning the education path with the societal needs rather than just the industrial needs has to be mapped out by the educators,…
With more than 450,000 workers (of which 262,000 are permanent workers) engaged in 330 registered big tea gardens spread over Darjeeling (including Kalimpong), Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts, the tea plantation industry is the largest employer in the formal private sector in West Bengal. The West Bengal state government has introduced welfare schemes that…
Digital Empowerment Foundation is notably particular in bridging the aspirational gap by strengthening the underserved communities through financial integration. And the project DFI (Digital Financial Inclusion) is going a step further with its motive to digitally integrate those communities such that they are better able to deal with their finances. To serve the needs of…