Patna: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday claimed that the central government integrated the SC and ST communities under the Digital India Programme.
He was speaking at an event to celebrate the 127th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar in Patna to empower Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities through common services centres, a crucial element in the Digital India Scheme, which aims to provide utility services to people in rural and remote areas.
Ravi Shankar spoke about the achievements of the Prime Minister's Rural Digital Literacy Mission. He mentioned over 8 lakh people became digitally literate in Bihar of whom 2 lakh were members from the SC and ST communities. The plan aimed to make 6 crore people in rural areas digitally literate in the country by 2019.
According to the minister, 22,613 common services centres operate in the state in almost all gram panchayats, which facilitate several services such as financial inclusion, digital awareness, digital payments and insurance services.
Unveiling future plans, he announced that 100 BPO call centres will be opened in villages of Bihar to help create jobs for 5-10 women from the SC and ST communities. A special mission mode project will be launched to empower the communities digitally. But he did not given a time-frame.
Under the Digi Gaon scheme, every village will be Wifi-enabled. Also to encourage village-level entrepreneurs of SC and ST communities, an award of Rs 1 lakh will be given. The government also plans to include railway ticketing, online admission to Ignou and sale of Patanjali medicines through common services centres in Bihar.
"The digital literacy mission is the fittest tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar's vision, which sought to create an equality-based society. Our government is committed to empower and skill people through technology, especially people belonging to SC and ST communities," said Ravi Shankar.
He declared common services centres as the backbone of new India, which brought the services of banks, teachers and doctors under a single roof along with the skill development by giving job-oriented courses to rural people. The technology has immense potential to transform the lives of people, it's a unique intervention in the country which enable, empower and enlighten those communities that left behind in the growth trajectory," said the minister.
During the programme, the minister felicitated five women village-level entrepreneurs from SC and ST communities - Asha Devi from Katihar, Gauri Kumari from Saharsa, Leela Jyoti from Samastipur, Gayatri Kumari from Nawada and Soni Kumari from Nalanda.
