By Digital Empowerment Foundation Published on: May 06, 2025 In the twenty-first-century world we inhabit today, the digital domain functions as an essential reality framework that both develops communication practices and powers business operations while helping authorities function better, sustaining social movements, and changing how we live. Digital technology represents more than technical innovation since…
Artificial Intelligence (AI), a technology that collects, classifies, and identifies patterns in data to perform tasks that are usually done by humans, can be considered one of the most prominent buzzwords of the 21st century.
Until a few months back, Kalawati, a housewife from rural Ajmer, would mostly watch videos and reels on her son’s smartphone. Like her, many rural women across the country are made to hear, “Phone to mardon ke liye hota hai. Aurton ke haath me phone aye toh bas bigadne ka darr satane lagta hai” (Phones are meant for men—when a woman gets a phone, there is a fear of her going astray).
In rural India, women have never been just caregivers—they have always been the backbone of their communities, the ‘silenced’ architects of the rural economy. Women-led micro-enterprises make up 20% of all MSMEs, employing 22–27 million people. Yet, an overwhelming 82% remain trapped in informality (NITI Aayog, 2023).
The role of women in care work and reproductive labour has been discussed extensively in popular media and critical feminist scholarship. In a rapidly digitalising country, patriarchy has successfully penetrated the digital realms, reinforcing divides that are not only spatial between the rural and the urban but starkly gendered, too.
By Digital Empowerment Foundation Published on: February 19, 2024 Cyber fraud is a growing menace in rural India, as rapid digitalisation outpaces the spread of digital literacy. Vulnerable communities often fall prey to sophisticated scams that exploit their limited understanding of online safety. Badla village in Jharkhand is a case in point, where a resident,…
By Digital Empowerment Foundation Published on: February 19, 2024 At the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), our ongoing commitment to bridging the digital divide and empowering marginalized communities through technology is embodied in our Just AI – Data & Algorithms for Communities division. This initiative works to integrate social justice with the growing impact of AI…
By Digital Empowerment Foundation Published on: February 19, 2024 Devpura is a small, underdeveloped village in the Neemuch district, populated by members of the Banjara community. Like many rural areas in India, most of the population engages in subsistence farming, manual labour, or small-scale trade. The community is primarily comprised of Scheduled Tribes, with a…
By Digital Empowerment Foundation Published on: February 19, 2024 For years, the residents of Noorsar village, Bikaner district, Rajasthan, faced immense challenges in accessing digital services and government schemes. With no Common Service Centre (CSC) or E-Mitra facility, villagers were forced to travel 10 to 20 kilometres just to apply for essential documents, pensions, or…
By Digital Empowerment Foundation Published on: February 19, 2024 Ms Chayarani Malakar, a 30-year-old resident of Hajo, Pakhamela in Kamrup District, Assam, embarked on a transformative journey to achieve financial independence and uplift the women in her community. Previously a housewife reliant on her husband’s limited income, she sought alternative sources of livelihood to create…