- To provide digital literacy & skilling interventions to 100,000+ children and adolescents via computer labs set up across 60 schools, 250 teachers to receive training
- 20,000 women to receive financial literacy and entrepreneurship opportunities
- Will deliver ecological interventions to enhance farmer incomes and livelihoods
NE EDUCATION BUREAU
ANAND, APRIL 5
Amul, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, and software firm SAP have collaborated to offer ‘digital literacy’, technical education and professional support for the rural and marginalised populace in the areas of coding, English skills, and socio-economic opportunities, senior officials of the companies announced on Tuesday.
Rural India digital literacy rate trails urban rates by 36%. To bridge this, SAP India and @Amul_Coop are jointly creating a Digital Literacy ecosystem that impacts over 1.5 Million lives. @kulmeetbawa https://t.co/yjygkp0fKy #AatmanirbharBharat #BuildingIndia pic.twitter.com/s6vUArLlLk
— SAP India (@SAPIndia) April 5, 2022
The joint community outreach is “focused on knowledge transfer and technology capacity building that will transform lives of 1.5 million Indians, comprising children, adolescents, youth, women, and farmers. The initiative is designed to focus on social entrepreneurship, enablement of skilled workforce, digital inclusion, and bridging the gender equality gap for the community,” they said.
Speaking on the collaboration, RS Sodhi, Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, (Amul) said, “Over 66 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas. Most of the rural population lives in India depends on agriculture, animal husbandry and dairying for their livelihood. Over the years, we have observed that various Government has tried their best to give them better access to education, transportation, financial services, and internet connectivity. With an objective of inclusive and sustainable community development, Amul and SAP has joined for the project. Under the project, quality digital literacy and skill interventions training imparted to school going children ate teachers.
Kulmeet Bawa, President, and Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent, said, “Technology can act as a catalyst in shaping India’s journey to an inclusive and sustainable economy. While urban development projects such as smart cities and futuristic mobility are reflective of this potential, true progress of India lies in the development of her villages. Our work with Amul is an expansion of this vision and will provide citizens with the information and tools they need to succeed. As India continues to lead global action on sustainability, collaboration like ours will also provide the critical foundation for an inclusive and resilient future in which no one is left behind.”
Technology is the enabler to bridge the urban-rural divide while creating employment opportunities for our fellow citizens in rural India. Join us in our journey to Power A Digital India that’s resilient and sustainable.https://t.co/h9F8q6LnWr#AatmanirbharBharat @kulmeetbawa pic.twitter.com/nMDm3CJSmh
— SAP India (@SAPIndia) April 5, 2022
Amit Vyas, MD, Amul Dairy, said, “In our 75th year, we remember Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Dr Varghese Kurien. Dr Kurien was the pioneer in adopting technology ahead of time in coop sector to deliver quality dairy products and sharing its fruits of success with all stakeholders. Now, under digitisation, the entire stable of animals in the Amul network has been tagged and added to a system that can tell farmers whether their animal is in heat, unwell or even pregnant. We have trained all our farmers how to take care of those animals. Digitally, we can provide information to the village about how to feed and look after the animals, and we can alert veterinarians if the animals are unwell. So far, the system has reduced sickness among Amul Dairy’s animals by more than 10 percent”
Over the last two decades, the two companies have worked together to optimize business processes and drive digital transformation for Amul, using SAP’s digital core ERP and supply chain solutions. The community outreach, is therefore, a natural extension of the companies’ long-standing partnership and commitment to innovation and creation of a long-term, scalable, and greener world.
Sodhi has also said that “our collaboration with SAP is a step forward in bringing these rural communities into mainstream by empowering them to hone essential future skills and turn their dreams into a reality. Our hope is that it will go a long way in nation building and creating an Atmanirbhar India.
Bawanipur Community Centre in Anand District is one of the beneficiaries of this digital literacy drive.
Speaking on the digital transformation brought about in Bhawanipur, Jigya Patel, 36, a school teacher said, “The community Centre classes have not only improved my teaching skills and enhanced my career, but has significantly impacted the lives of all teachers and teachers and teachers despite the pandemic.”.
Thanks to the digital literacy, Manishaben not only helping her two children in resolving their computer curriculum but also learnt the art of using social media, e-commerce and UPI. Now, she is supplying food to 8 customers and honing her culinary skills to take part in MasteChef programme as well.
To a query on CSR spending, one of the officials of SAP India said that the company has been spending over two percent of its net profit for CSR activities.
Key pillars of the initiative include:
Coding and 21st Century Skill
To power India’s 5 trillion-dollar economy, we need to develop digitally savvy communities. This will be done by imparting digital literacy, coding, problem solving and English skills for citizens in remote villages, thus enabling adoption of New Education Policy imperatives.
School to Workforce transition
Will build a STEM-focused learning environment to help students in marginalised regions make a smoother transition to the workforce and enhance job opportunities. It will also reduce school dropouts, improve learning, and create an employable talent pool by encouraging critical reasoning and analytical thinking.
Women empowerment and entrepreneurship
Women in rural areas are finding more entrepreneurial opportunities thanks to the growing digital world. Over 20,000 young women will be taught in digital-financing skills and functional communications as part of “Employable 21st Century Skills,” with the goal of strengthening support for the social business sector and achieving gender equality.
Support Farmer Livelihoods
The outreach will help scale community ownership & participation under Build, Operate, Transfer Model of sustainable development. By planting fruit-bearing saplings, the companies will help improve biodiversity, reduce soil erosion, and increase green cover, thus enhancing support to the livelihood of farmers and their families. SAP India has so far planted over 10,000 fruit-bearing trees.
Pratham Infotech Foundation, an NGO organization that works to close the digital divide in India, will lead Amul and SAP India’s collaborative outreach.
