Telangana government Nasscom jointly driving National Digital Literacy Mission

Government of Telangana Partners with NASSCOM Foundation in the state-wide Roll Out of the National Digital Literacy Mission
- Sign an MoU to jointly work towards making at least one person per household digitally literate across Telangana
- The Foundation with the support of Telangana IT Department to also award refurbished computers to select Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs)
Hyderabad, 6th July 2015: Government of Telangana and NASSCOM Foundation today, signed a MoU to partner towards the state-wide roll out of the National Digital Literacy Mission as a step towards the Government’s mission of ‘Swachh Digital Telangana’ and in line with the Digital India movement.
The vision of the NDLM program is to enable the citizens to be digital – ready, to understand and benefit from the various schemes the government is launching under the Digital India Umbrella. Under the program, the beneficiaries will be trained on all digital devices, specifically, computers and mobile phones. Once trained, the beneficiaries will be able to send emails, connect on social media, buy from ecommerce websites, and will even know how to use Internet to avail various government services such as registering for Aadhar cards, ration cards, PAN cards, among others.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary, Telangana said,
“Digital literacy is among the most essential prerequisites towards creating a Digital Telangana and we are happy to partner with NASSCOM Foundation who has been a pioneer in the space. A digitally literate citizen of Telangana will be more connected than ever with the state government and will also be able to fully utilize the newly conceptualized m-governance model.”
Mr. Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said, “We are of firm belief that Digital Literacy is the pathway to a better connected and a more empowered state. NASSCOM Foundation congratulates the Telangana Government to be the first state run government to realize the importance and show its commitment towards making its citizens a digitally literate.”
NASSCOM Foundation, who is already running three centres in Telangana in partnership with Cyient and Zensar Technologies will now work with the State Government’s machinery, the Common Service Centres (CSCs) and rural infrastructures like Schools and Post offices etc. to help make at least one person per household digitally literate across Telangana.
As the first step, the Foundation – through its BigBridge program and with support of the Telangana IT department will be awarding refurbished computers to select Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). During the MOU signing, the VLEs will receive a certificate which will qualify them to get the refurbished computers to further the NDLM goal. NASSCOM Foundation keeping with its commitment of responsible e–waste management and Digital literacy will work with its member companies to make more refurbished computers available for this mission. So far, the Foundation’s Big Bridge Program has donated 8000 refurbished computers to over 300 NGOs across the country; thus impacting learning and livelihoods for the excluded.
The National Digital Literacy Mission is a far-sighted, dynamic and integrated platform of digital literacy awareness, education and capacity programmes that will help rural and the underserved communities fully participate in the global digital economy. NASSCOM Foundation is the industry partner to the Government of India to accomplish the first phase goal for NDLM or ‘DISHA’ by making 10 lakh individuals in India digitally literate in the coming few months.
About NASSCOM Foundation: NASSCOM Foundation is a leading non-profit organization driving technology for good. The Foundation’s work is just as expansive and evolutionary as the potential that technology and corporate India entail. Drawing strength from its parent body NASSCOM, the Foundation works closely with four major stakeholders: NASSCOM member companies, NGOs, emerging social enterprises and Government, ‘changing India bit by bit’ – a journey to foster a strategic relationship between technology and development. NASSCOM Foundation’s core initiatives include working for Persons with Disabilities, fostering innovative solutions for social good, creating unique skilling models for underserved communities, and digital literacy where it is the industry partner to the Govt. of India’s National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM / DiSHA).
Please visit www.nasscomfoundation.org for more information.