National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) is a campaign that aims to digitally educate at least one member of every family in rural areas. From 2014 to 2016, two Schemes titled ‘National Digital Literacy Mission’ (NDLM) and ‘Digital Saksharta Abhiyan’ (DISHA) were implemented by the Government of India with a target to train 52.50 lakh candidates in digital literacy across the country.
In 2017, a scheme titled ‘Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)’ was approved by Union Cabinet to usher in digital literacy in rural India by covering 6 crore rural households (one person per household).
Despite all these, digital literacy is still inadequate among the rural and underprivileged sections in India, the ratio of women and elderly people being even sadder. The digital education gap in urban and rural areas is far from being bridged.
However, international companies operating in India as well as Indian companies are working to bridge this gap across the country through various CSR initiatives. On World Computer Literacy Day, The CSR Journal takes a look at the top CSR activities for digital literacy in the year 2022.
Microsoft and LinkedIn’s digital skill training programme
On 30th November, Microsoft and LinkedIn announced that as part of their ‘Skills for Jobs’ CSR programme, they will be providing free access to 350 courses and six new Career Essentials Certificates for six of the most in-demand jobs in the digital economy in India.
‘Microsoft and LinkedIn will also be offering 50,000 LinkedIn Learning scholarships to help people get ahead in their skilling journey. By 2025, Microsoft will help train and certify 10 million people with skills for in demand jobs. Today’s launch builds on the Global Skills Initiative, which helped 80 million jobseekers around the world access digital skilling resources,’ reads the announcement.
‘To date, Microsoft has engaged 14 million learners in Asia via LinkedIn, Microsoft Learn and non-profit skilling efforts. Of this, 7.3 million learners were from India. The top six LinkedIn Learning Pathways in India were: Critical Soft Skills, Software Developer, Data Analyst, Financial Analyst, Project Manager, and Customer Service Specialist,’ they shared.
Admitad India’s computer labs at D-Cacus Education Center
Understanding the importance of uplifting the education sector in India, Admitad India contributed to setting up computer labs for the students at D-Cacus Education Center (DCED) in September this year.
Talking about the same, Neha Kulwal, Managing Director, APAC and India, shared, “We as a brand have always believed in giving back to society in a meaningful way. Our association with D-Cacus Education Center for setting up computer labs reinforces our commitment to society at large. It’s a great feeling to help the students who are the future of our country. We know how important the digital world is and every single individual should have the bare minimum knowledge of operating a computer. I believe it’s a tiny portion of happiness that we give back to society as a responsible organization. Every child is entitled to learning and we try our best to help all those in need.”
Indus Towers Limited and NIIT Foundation’s Digital Transformation Van
Indus Towers Limited (formerly Bharti Infratel Limited) and NIIT Foundation announced in October, this year that they have impacted the lives of 1500 individuals in rural Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh via their Digital Transformation Van (DTV). Indus, provider of passive telecom infrastructure and NIIT Foundation, a not-for-profit education society for underprivileged, have come together to empower people with digital literacy and even gave certificates to 280 new individuals who received their digital course.
‘Launched in 2018, to support the National Digital Literacy Mission, Indus Towers DTV has so far travelled to more than 30 communities/ villages in and around Delhi, Dehradun, Bhopal and Gujarat. In Bhopal, it has spread awareness and awarded educational certificates to 1130 in 2022 and reached over 15,000 individuals through its video-based Education program. The program has imparted digital literacy to individuals in the age range of 12 to 60 years, and who come from diverse backgrounds. The beneficiaries include school going children, women, Self Help Groups, homemakers, entry-level employees working in firms, farmers, and adults who want to develop digital literacy,’ they announced.
OPPO donates digital literacy tools for underprivileged students at Mensa
In August this year, smartphone manufacturing company OPPO India partnered with Mensa India, the national chapter of high IQ society Mensa International, to contribute to their Project Dhruv initiative. The project identifies meritorious children from underprivileged families, to educate and nurture them, as per an announcement.
OPPO contributed Digital Literacy tools for supporting children with limited or no access to technology to develop the skills they need for an increasingly digital world. These tools are expected to support the academics of first-generation learners of Project Dhruv. As part of the association, 45 OPPO Pads, stylus, and internet dongles were distributed to the students at a function held at Vidya School, Sector 24, Gurgaon.
Cosmo Foundation donates laptops and tablets to acid attack survivors
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, this year, Cosmo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Cosmo Films Ltd. announced that they are donating laptops and tablets to acid attack survivors and their children. Cosmo Foundation partnered with Make Love Not Scars Residential Rehabilitation Center for supporting acid attack survivors. The purpose is to empower acid attack survivors by developing and enhancing their digital skills. The foundation further announced that they would also be imparting digital skill-building and English speaking courses on the virtual platforms for the beneficiaries.
DXC Technology and NASSCOM Foundation’s Digital Training Centre for female students
IT services company DXC Technology, in association with NASSCOM Foundation, jointly announced the inauguration of their second Digital Training Centre at the Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Pune in September this year. They aim to enhance technical capabilities and digital learning among students. This comes after the launch of the first Digital Training center in Hyderabad earlier this year. They further announced that eight similar centers in colleges across the country are being planned to aid digital training in emerging technologies.
iOPEX Technologies and Yuva Parivartan’s computer science course for underprivileged youth
iOPEX Technologies recently announced that they have partnered with Yuva Parivartan, a Non-Profit Organisation working in the slums of Bangalore for more than 15 years, to provide training in vocational skills to underprivileged youth through its existing Livelihood Development Centre.
More than 200 underprivileged youth within the age group of 18 to 35 years will be provided with short-term livelihood-oriented courses in Computer Science, Accounts, Retail Sales and Apparel Making. Entrepreneurial training will also be provided as part of the program.
Deloitte’s virtual training to underprivileged students
Deloitte recently announced that to mark the 20th leg of their annual Impact Day initiative, volunteers from Deloitte in India have undertaken in-person as well as virtual projects keeping in mind digital skill development of underprivileged children.
‘The focus was on improving learning outcomes among students from underserved communities as well as facilitating environmental awareness. The initiative involved working with NGOs spread over 300 locations for learning initiatives, STEM models for schools, developing stories, podcasts, and audiobooks, environmental awareness sessions, and natural heritage restoration projects across seven states in India,’ they announced.
Gen and NASSCOM Foundation’s digital economy training to rural women entrepreneurs
With an aim to empower rural women entrepreneurs about digital economy, NASSCOM Foundation and Gen, a global company dedicated to powering digital freedom announced that they have successfully trained women entrepreneurs in Latur and Osmanabad districts in Maharashtra.
The initiative was aimed at digitally upskilling over 200 women agri and agri-allied entrepreneurs to enable them to participate in the digital economy. Most women entrepreneurs trained under the project are now able to use digital communication tools to boost their businesses and they have been successfully skilled on digital adoption, as per the announcement.
Mphasis donates for digital learning at Ashoka University
Mphasis, an information technology (IT) solutions provider specializing in cloud and cognitive services, through its Corporate Social Responsibility arm Mphasis F1 Foundation, recently announced that they would be giving a grant of INR 18 Crores to Ashoka University, for a period of three years towards the expansion of Mphasis Laboratory of Machine Learning and Computational Thinking at the University. The partnership will also lay the foundation of Digital Makerspace to intensify engagement and experiential learning within the student community, they said.
‘The expansion of the lab will offer spaces for experiential learning through live projects and hackathons and flexible spaces for industry-academia engagement through lecture series and workshops. The Digital Makerspace will provide Computer Science (CS) and non-CS students with an equal opportunity to benefit from Ashoka’s interdisciplinary environment. The Digital Makerspace will be a collaborative workspace for making, learning, exploring, and sharing using high-tech to no-tech tools that will enable the ideation of tech-enabled solution-centric startups,’ reads the announcement.
