<div>A digitally connected India will bring "tremendous power" in the hands of citizens by connecting them to the rest of the world, Ratan Tata said on Friday (03 July), lauding the government's 'Digital India' programme.</div><div> </div><div>"I'm delighted that the Prime Minister has decided to give so much preference and priority to the fact that India will be a digitised nation," Tata said here at the launch of an initiative to deepen Internet usage among rural women. "Internet will help educate India, will give access to livelihood to many women who do not have a formal livelihood, help reach out commerce to far parts of India," he said.</div><div> </div><div>Tata Trusts, chaired by Ratan Tata, has tied up with Google and Intel to help women access the internet in large numbers under this initiative .Called “Internet Saathi”, the programmewill allow rural women and their communities to use the Internet and benefit from it in their daily lives.<br><br>The initiative will provide basic training on the usage and benefits of Internet for women through specially designed Internet cycle carts which will be used to visit areas in villages where women can easily access and also learn more from the Internet.<br><br>Built on the back of a cycle, the Cart is modeled on India's traditional distribution system that is used to carry everything from ice-cream to industrial supplies. The initiative will kick off from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand and will be rolled out across the country eventually reaching out to over 4500 villages and 5 lakh women and rural communities across rural India over the next eighteen months. The internet Cart would be available in the village for a minimum of two days every week for over a period of four to six months.</div><div><br><strong>3-way Initiative</strong><br>The initiative will also be supported by Intel who has been a long term partner of Google India’s Helping Women Get Online initiative. “We believe that the vision of Digital India will empower every Indian citizen with equal opportunities irrespective of cast, creed and gender. At Intel we believe that skill development and innovation are imperative for realizing the Digital India vision and we are very proud to collaborate with Google and Tata Trusts on the ‘Helping Women Get Online’ initiative especially as we celebrate the Digital India Week.” said, Debjani Ghosh, Vice President SMG, Managing Director- South Asia, Intel.<br> </div><div>The three-way initiative comes on the heels of Digital India programme launched on Wednesday by Modi, who pitched for a digital revolution in the country.</div><div> </div><div>Modi also exhorted the industry to boost domestic production of electronic devices, which account for second largest imports, under the 'Make in India' programme.</div><div> </div><div>Country's top industrial houses have pledged to invest over Rs 4.5 lakh crore under 'Digital India'.</div><div> </div><div>Reminiscing how people were forced to wait for up to 10 years to get a phone connection during his childhood, Tata said deeper penetration of the phone has empowered the entire population now.</div><div> </div><div>Benefits in terms of finding one's identity, self-respect and access to knowledge because of the phone are "unbelievable", he said.</div><div> </div><div>Executives from Google said even though growth in women users is out-pacing that of men in urban areas, women account for only a tenth of the total rural Internet users.</div><div> </div><div>Under the "Internet Saathi" programme, 1,000 specially designed bicycles having connected devices will give villagers an experience of Internet over a period of four to six months.</div><div> </div><div>The initiative aims to cover 4,500 villages over the next 18 months, starting with Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand and targets to reach out to about five lakh women.<br><br> </div>
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