Inauguration of Community Telecentre in Indian village of Agya
01-12-2005 (New Delhi)
Agya Village Community Telecentre
© UNESCO
A new Community Telecentre to provide ICT-enhanced training and education for the special-needs groups, in particular women and semi-literate members of the community, was recently inaugurated in Agya Village, India.
State Minister Ramkaran Arya inaugurated the Centre that is located in the Sant Kabir Nagar (Basti) Dictrict in Uttar Pradesh, on Monday, 14 November 2005. Ashok Sharma, from the UNESCO Office in New Delhi, Mashoor Alam Chowdhary, Chief Block Development Officer, and elected Panchayat representatives of the village along with several dignitaries and media persons from Newspapers and TV and a large number of members of the local community were present at the `glittering’ and `charged’ inaugural ceremony of the Community Telecentre.
The Community Telecentre has been set up by the Shikshit Yuva Sewa Simiti, a registered non-profit organization working for Equal Opportunity for the Disabled, with the support of UNESCO.
As the State Minister took a round of the Community Telecenter after the inauguration, Gopal Krishna Agrawal, Director of Shikshit Yuva Sewa Simiti, explained the `skills enhancement computer literacy modules’ deployed at the Centre and how the modules facilitated rapid teaching-learning process.
In his inaugural address; Minister Arya said that India’s development lies in the development of its villages. Without linking villages with the mainstream one can not imagine the development process in India. Hence development of information and communication technology in the villages and in rural areas and its uses in the education, science and culture related activities are most important for the self empowerment, and of the community as a whole. Thanking UNESCO for its support, he exhorted the Agya Village communities and women in particular, to use the Centre for improving their skills and make the Community Telecentre `socially’ as well as `economically’ sustainable.
Addressing the opening ceremony on behalf of UNESCO, Ashok Sharma said that 1500 trainees from the local communities will be obtain computer aided basic training, in particular in literacy in Hindi and English, and in elementary mathematics and basic health care. Other areas of training are micro-credit, in particular for women’s empowerment, and vocational skills enhancement covering more than 30 modules, including tailoring, candle making and pappad making.
Keeping the electricity problem in mind a low cost solar energy plant has been installed at the Centre for the smooth functioning of the computers and other equipment.
The Community Telecentre has been set up by the Shikshit Yuva Sewa Simiti, a registered non-profit organization working for Equal Opportunity for the Disabled, with the support of UNESCO.
As the State Minister took a round of the Community Telecenter after the inauguration, Gopal Krishna Agrawal, Director of Shikshit Yuva Sewa Simiti, explained the `skills enhancement computer literacy modules’ deployed at the Centre and how the modules facilitated rapid teaching-learning process.
In his inaugural address; Minister Arya said that India’s development lies in the development of its villages. Without linking villages with the mainstream one can not imagine the development process in India. Hence development of information and communication technology in the villages and in rural areas and its uses in the education, science and culture related activities are most important for the self empowerment, and of the community as a whole. Thanking UNESCO for its support, he exhorted the Agya Village communities and women in particular, to use the Centre for improving their skills and make the Community Telecentre `socially’ as well as `economically’ sustainable.
Addressing the opening ceremony on behalf of UNESCO, Ashok Sharma said that 1500 trainees from the local communities will be obtain computer aided basic training, in particular in literacy in Hindi and English, and in elementary mathematics and basic health care. Other areas of training are micro-credit, in particular for women’s empowerment, and vocational skills enhancement covering more than 30 modules, including tailoring, candle making and pappad making.
Keeping the electricity problem in mind a low cost solar energy plant has been installed at the Centre for the smooth functioning of the computers and other equipment.
Related themes/countries
· News Archives 2005
· India: News Archive 2005
· Capacity Building: News Archives 2005
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