Internet search giant Google has entered into a tie up with Tata Trusts to decrease the digital gender gap prevalent in rural areas of India such as Purulia in West Bengal, where girls have now been recently trained to use the powers of the internet and teach others in turn. The initiative by the two aforementioned companies, christened ‘Internet Saathi’, had been successfully launched in five states at the beginning, later, it began in four more states including West Bengal. Sapna Chadha, Head of Marketing, Google India has reportedly said in a survey, that it was found that in rural India, only one in every 10 women knew how to use the Internet.
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She said, the major reasons are cultural barriers, lack of awareness and lack of perceived value. Initial obvious questions were ‘What will I do by learning the Internet?’ and ‘How will it help me in my farmwork?’ But I managed to convince a handful of women. Another Saathi, Indumati Mahato, said that she helped a pregnant lady in her village, I searched the net and gave her the address of three nearest hospitals where she could go for the delivery. She went to the nearest one, where she gave birth to a twin. In another incident, a girl who had appeared for her board exam was told that she had flunked, and was crying profusely. I searched for her result and found that she had passed. When she saw that with her own eyes, she was relieved.
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