Digital Didi Changing Mindsets, Practices and Narratives
With young rural entrepreneurs taking up initiatives to ensure that the digital services reach the door-step of every household, the drive to digitise India has gained momentum and DEf has always been a big supporter and enabler of it.
Digitalization has become the interface between the world and oneself. Without being equipped with this, one would not be able to access the world outside. It comes as no surprise that a digital centre would eventually be the heart of the village as it enables circulation of resources and opportunities and without which, irrespective of the availability of resources, the outcome of benefiting the community will not be achieved.
Radhika from Geen Mohd, Shaheedpur of Uttarakhand understands this scenario clearly and empathises with her community who have to travel five to seven kilometres to avail any kind of digital service. Although she understood the need and the effort required to make it more convenient, coming from a middle class family with income dependent on farming, she could not implement her business idea. She says, “We say that India is equipped with digital services. But there are so many villages that struggle to get access in a convenient way and at low cost. My village is one among them and this was the motivation for me to persevere to start my own centre”. She met the district co-ordinator and got an orientation about the program to bring the SoochnaPreneur model into her enterprise. Once she had a clarity of how the enterprise would work, she felt glad that her dream would finally come true. Recently, her Community Information Resource Centre (CIRC) was inaugurated and was encouraged by her community, including Pradhan of the village. The community reflected her happiness in taking up the initiative to provide digital services and literacy easily. She adds, “People from my village are being very supportive of me and I am grateful to Digital Empowerment Foundation for providing me the support because of which I am more confident and independent today.”
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