Over 2000 women from across the country gathered in the national capital to celebrate the struggle and success of harnessing the Common Service Centers to create digital literacy and offer e-services.
Hon’ Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was chief guest at the event, stressed on the grassroots information technology access that CSCs are creating, apart from acting as instruments of engendering social change.The Minister added that the services offered by CSCs are allowing digital access to services for the poorest and hence reducing corruption and malpractices.
Recalling the big role played by women in the white revolution, referring to the dairy revolution in India, Hon’ble Minister expressed the hope that women will also play a fundamental role in information technology revolution for creating social change.
He also launched a coffee table book showcasing 100 stories of the women VLEs from across the country. Several women were felicitated through awards given by the Hon’ble Minister for their outstanding contributions through their CSCs.
In his welcome address, Chief Executive Officer, CSC SPV, Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi explained the purpose of the conference by stressing that the struggles and successes of the women VLEs were similar and which need to be shared, including the innovations and solutions that many of them have come up with during the course of their work.
Also present at the conference were senior officials, including Dr Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary DEITY, Shri Sanjiv Mittal, Joint Secretary DEITY.
The women shared their experiences through panel discussions and questions from the audience at the Siri Fort Auditorium.