Tech-tonic transition in Jhansi: Police adopt village to plug digital divide on education

“The lockdown and pandemic have affected education of a lot of children. With this initiative, the idea is to provide long-term help to children in terms of books and others so that their studies are hampered. Some migrant labourers have come back to the village. The plan will be a community participation effort for village’s holistic development,” said Jhansi City SP Rahul Shrivastava, who heads the initiative. Around 40-50 people have returned to the village, with a population of around 1,100, due to the coronavirus lockdown.

NSS volunteers from Budnelkhand University will adopt one house each in the village and teach how to use various social media platforms. “NSS volunteers will help children who do not have enough resources for e-learning. On Sundays or other holidays, they will visit houses and interact with students and other family members,” said Dr Umesh Kumar, Jhansi NSS Nodal Officer.

Unicef will provide technical assistance. “The idea is to make the villages self-sustainable… As per our discussions with police, we will provide support to different departments whether in terms of livelihood generation or education,” said a Unicef spokesperson.

The villagers are excited about the idea of having a digital footprint. “The officials have discussed Twitter and Instagram with us… But I am sure if they spend enough time and teach us, we will learn it. This will bring about a lot of change in the village since it will be a way for us to highlight issues,” said Garhmau pradhan Sri Jai Devi.