AP women on a mission to bridge digital divide

A group of women in Andhra Pradesh have started first of its kind Rural Knowledge Centre.

In a pioneering effort, a group of women in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh are on a mission to bridge the digital divide by taking up the fruits of information technology to the rural folk.

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The members of Adarsha Mahila Cooperative Society at Addaka, Mahbubnagar district, had little idea about six months ago that they would be spearheading an effort to start first of its kind Rural Knowledge Centre (RKC) to take the benefits of Net revolutions to their village.

Impressed by their enthusiasm, Microsoft Corporation, NASSCOM Foundation and International Crop Research Institute for Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) came forward to provide financial and material aid. The RKC started functioning recently.

"We started with 15 personal computers (PCs) given to us by Microsoft. RKC is offering a wide range of services from helping farmers by disseminating information to offering PC training to the villagers," Sushma Reddy, head of Adarsha Mahila Sabha, Addakal, said.

How do they bridge the digital divide? Simple. "As village prosperity is mainly dependent on agriculture, we are demonstrating to the farmers the best methods in deciding crop-patterns, soil-differentiation," says Sushma.