Google brings out initiatives for Digital India Program

Search giant Google has brought up various initiatives under the government’s ‘Digital India’ campaign. The company is reportedly focusing on areas like bringing more Indian language content online and helping 20 million SMEs set up Internet presence by 2017. Google also launched a special program called ‘Internet Saathi’ to bring more women online, along with Tata Trusts.

Google is already working with MyGov.in, Department of IT, Ministry of Culture and many state governments for initiatives with the purpose of promoting adoption of Internet amongst women, promoting digital literacy and Internet safety. The tech giant is looking to bring 50 million women online.

The objective of the ‘Internet Saathi’ program is to empower rural women and their communities by enabling them to use Internet in their daily lives. The program aims to provide basic training on the usage of Internet and its benefits by use of specially designed Internet cycle carts. These cycle carts will visit villages to provide access.

“India has 300 million users and 6-7 million users are being added each month. While 50% women in urban India use the Internet, this number is very low for rural women,” said Rajan Anandan, managing director, south-east Asia and India, Google.

The program will be launched in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand where Internet carts will be available in villages for a minimum of two days every week for 4-6 months. The aim is to reach out to 4,500 villages and 500,000 women by the end of 2016, according to a company statement.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to invest Rs 4.5 lakh crore for the ambitious ‘Digital India’ program that aims to provide telephony and fast Internet for all the government, the tech giant announced its big focus is on 4 key projects. These include bringing more Indian language content online, making high-quality, affordable smartphones available to as many people as possible and bringing India’s rich cultural heritage online.