Utilising digital means to empower lives

Binit Das

The NASSCOM Foundation announced the launch of their "Aspirational Districts Programme" in New Delhi on December 14th. Essentially, the program aims to (digitally) enable more than 3.5 million lives by March 2024 and the emphasis is on empowering the marginalized who live in remote and backward areas of India.

On the occasion, Rakesh Ranjan, Aspirational Districts Programme Mission Director, NITI Aayog, explained that the programme is a promising step towards accelerating the country’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). AISECT Vice President Arvind Chaturvedi and Madhura Karnik, Haqdarshak also attended the event as implementation partners.

In all, 100 aspirational districts are being identified as part of the program, of which 55 have been identified across 23 states so far---these include Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur, while a few have already been established. NASSCOM Foundation's core philosophy of TechForGood is directly aligned with the programmep—it utilizes technical initiatives to improve social impact and livelihoods.

Announcing the launch of NASSCOM Foundation’s Aspirational Districts Programme, Nidhi Bhasin, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said, “The Government’s Aspirational Districts Programme spearheaded by NITI Aayog, has triggered equitable growth and development in every corner of the country. As an extension to the government’s initiative, NASSCOM Foundations’ Aspirational Districts Programme focusses on the two aspects of inclusive growth and meeting SDG commitments. We are confident that through our collective efforts to roll out people-centric digital initiatives, we will be able transform 55 districts and empower over 3.5 million lives and thus, make technology affordable, equitable and most importantly accessible to the last mile.”

Rakesh Ranjan added, “There is no doubt that India is on a high economic growth trajectory and the key is to take the entire country along in this development journey. With initiatives like the Foundation’s Aspirational Districts Programme, significant progress will be made towards equitable development. This is one of the first steps in ensuring a national inclusive development strategy that fosters technology and ensures that no district is left behind.”