This story by a DEF team member was first published by The Better India on May 5, 2016 A foreign national working in India with Digital Empowerment Foundation, Cathy Pin-Chun Chen was recently touring in rural parts of India to document stories of women whose live have changed following digital interventions. She shares their stories…
Soochna Seva Kendras have been established across five districts in five states to act as a one-stop hub for people who want to seek information about government schemes and entilements. One day, when Dhanna Ram, a 58-year-old tailor from Rani Gaon panchayat in Uttar Pradesh, heard about Soocha Seva from one of his neighbours, he…
Twenty-five-year-old Kunti Devi had received a cheque worth Rs. 2,000 under the Janani Suraksha Yojana in 2014 when she was pregnant. However, her husband and her had no knowledge of how to encash a cheque and receive the money entitled to them. And so, the cheque simply gathered dust in their cupboard for a year,…
Fifty-year-old Kamala Devi gave birth to a baby girl at Rani Gaon panchayat in Uttar Pradesh under the Janani Suraksha Scheme, which provides institutional support to beneficiaries. And this was made possible by the assistance of the local Soochna Seva team. “They came to my house when I was three months pregnant. Once I was…
In the high mountains of Katkodh Village, Narendra Nagar Block of Tehri district of Uttarakhand resides an old elderly woman named Gabli Devi. On the day of the field visit of the Soochna Seva Team, they happened to meet Gabli Devi, who was differently abled and very old. Gabli Devi was facing hardships and difficulties…
One of the major solution areas under which Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan, works is Water. Each individual on the campus believes that every drop of fresh water that falls on the ground should be harnessed for use. And so, they use various techniques and methods to conserve as much water as possible. For this…
This story by a DEF team member was first published in The Better India on January 31, 2016 Digital Empowerment Foundation team member Udita Chaturvedi shares some snippets from a trip to rural Rajasthan. Last month, I was in Alwar district of Rajasthan (Alwar is about 160 kilometres from Delhi, and is also one of…
This story was first published in The Better India on April 7, 2016 Until 2011, the Dabri village on the outskirts of Birni, one of the 13 community development blocks of Giridih district in Jharkhand state, suffered from intermittent and often non-functional Internet connectivity. It was served by only one telecom provider, which was slow…
This story was first published by The Better India on April 24, 2016. Sixteen-year-old Abner Manzar was on a road trip in Rajasthan with the Red Rickshaw Revolution team when he got a chance to meet an inspiring woman who had been fighting child marriage in her village. He shares his interaction with the woman…
Digital Bharat: A mobile impact case study Kisan Sanchar was the winner of Mobile for Good Awards in 2012. It is an interactive platform for scientists, agricultural experts and institutions for sharing their technology and knowledge with the registered subscribers i.e. farmers who have willingly opted for the mobile information service. The Kisan Sanchar knowledge…