AISECT Felicitated by the Government of Bihar for Its Impactful Social Innovations in ICT
Bhopal-based organization, AISECT has been honoured by the Government of Bihar for developing innovative, high impact and rural solutions in the field of Information & Computer Technology (ICT).
Online, March 20, 2014 (Newswire.com) - On the occasion of the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum, the state's Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar felicitated the winners who were chosen from the eight livelihood areas - agriculture, livestock, financial services, rural energy, ICT-based solutions, skill development and non-farm sector, access to public entitlements and access to services.
Launched in April 2013, the Bihar Innovation Forum is a one-of-its-kind initiative jointly taken by Jeevika (Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society) and the World Bank that awards social innovators who have developed impactful rural enterprises across India.The winners receive token cash awards of upto Rs. 5 lakhs and are invited to partner with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society to replicate and scale up their innovations in Bihar through formal partnership modalities. Financial, implementation and other capacity building support such as business planning, executive training, mentoring etc. are also provided through BRLPS.
On winning this prestigious recognition, Mr. Abhishek Pandit, Director (Business Services), AISECTsaid, "It is a sheer honour to witness our hard work and the innovative initiative of the team getting recognized on such a prestigious platform. This is an acknowledgement of the fact that innovation, entrepreneurship and partnerships are increasingly important for addressing major development challenges related to poverty, inclusion and sustainability. Such recognitions will encourage us in changing the rural landscape of Bihar through our breakthrough innovations."
Ever since its origin in 1985, AISECT has been constantly striving to reach out to the unreached - the semi-urban & rural India, which accounts for about 80% of Indian population and is working on harnessing the power of ICT in this region.
The organization is actively involved in offering skill development and training in semi-urban and rural areas for the last 29 years, bringing a remarkable transformation in the lives of more than 12 lakh students so far. Over the years, AISECT has developed a fairly evolved understanding of the needs and the importance of delivering ICT training to the masses of the country through innovations like setting up of 'Multipurpose Centre' model, developing a Community Centric Model which focuses on all sections of society, pioneering content creation in Hindi & regional languages to overcome language barrier in semi-urban & rural India and introducing IT Yatra where solar powered vans would go to the remotest areas to create awareness about computer and ICT-based technology.
Five years down the line, AISECT foresees a new set of objectives being executed through the use of technology and many more Government run schemes and projects pertaining to skilling and ICT proliferation in semi-urban and rural India. While disclosing AISECT's future plans, Abhishek Pandit said, "With an intention of at least one AISECT Centre in each district and block of states like Gujarat, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, AISECT wants to pull the next generation into the work force in fusing them with the necessary skills to compete effectively in the digital era."