According to a 2018 report from the Digital Empowerment Foundation, 90% of India’s population is digitally illiterate.
The problem intensifies in rural villages, where a lack of roads and electricity makes development efforts extremely difficult.
Ekal on Wheels is changing that. Our trailblazing, solar-powered mobile computer labs are designed to meet the needs of rural communities. Since launching in 2015, Ekal on Wheels has brought digital literacy to 14,770 rural girls and boys across 706 villages. And we’ve only just begun.
Developed in partnership with IIT Bombay’s Spoken Tutorial Project, Ekal on Wheels’ curriculum builds technology skills, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship capabilities over the course of a three-month training. Graduates earn a certificate from IIT Bombay.
Each bus seats 18 students, has nine computers, and reaches 36 villages annually. Ekal currently has 26 buses operating around India; another 10 will be ready for action within the next one to three months. For its innovation, the project won HP and India Today’s Digital Trailblazers Award in 2016.
We believe strongly that rural villages are the future of India. Equipped with the skills to thrive in a digital world, and with the incoming arrival of 5G, rural India is poised to become more connected than ever before.
“Villages we call ‘remote’ because they’re nearly inaccessible by roads will no longer be remote because they’ll be connected digitally,” says Executive Director Ranjani Saigal.
Indeed, technology is transforming how we think about access. Doors are opening for underserved youth who, without Ekal, would never have had access to computers or digital training. Many Ekal on Wheels graduates go on to succeed in a variety of computer-related fields, from data entry to running their own businesses.
Rural villages are rapidly becoming crucial players on the international stage. With the groundbreaking help of Ekal on Wheels, rural India has never been more prepared to meet the challenges of the future head-on.
As one trainee put it: “Ekal on Wheels allowed me to touch the future.”
Ekal’s mission is to empower individuals and families in India and Nepal’s rural villages to achieve their full human potential. To learn more about us and to support our work, go to ekal.org.
