Expanding the Internet Saathi Initiative

Google India and Tata Trusts have decided to expand their Internet Saathi initiative to villages in Punjab and Odisha.

About the Initiative

• The initiative is aimed at facilitating digital literacy among women in rural India.
• Under the Internet Saathi programme Launched in July 2015, 70,000 ‘Internet Saathi’s’ are trained, who have in turn impacted 2.6 crore million women in the country.
• Started as a pilot in Rajasthan and the programme has been expanded to states including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
• The programme has reached 2.6 lakh villages across 18 states.

The ratio of digitally literate female to male was 1 in 10 in 2015 and in 2018, it has increased to 4 in 10. The Internet Saathi programme has made a great contribution towards bridging the digital gender divide in rural India.