Indus Towers Unveils Digital Transformation Van to Promote Digital Literacy in Vadodara

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Initiative taken in collaboration with NIIT Foundation to promote digital literacy

To impact 48,000 lives across 12 villages in Vadodara

Reaffirming its commitment towards improving the quality of education in rural India as part of the National Digital Literacy Mission, Indus Towers, the world's largest telecom tower company (outside China), today unveiled a Digital Transformation Van (DTV) in Vadodara to promote digital literacy in rural areas. The DTV was flagged off by Dr. Jigeeshaben Jatinbhai Sheth, Mayor, Vadodara Municipal Corporation. The event was also graced by the presence of dignitaries including Shri Ajay Bhadoo (IAS), VMC Commissioner, Shri Satish Patel, Standing Committee Chairman and Shri Sudhir Patel, CEO Vadodara Smart City. Launched in association with NIIT Foundation, the initiative to launch the digital literacy program has been taken by Shri Manish Kumar S. Bhatt, IT Director that seeks to contribute towards making Vadodara as the knowledge hub of Gujarat.

 

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/776083/Indus_Towers_DTVan.jpg )

The 20-seater solar-power enabled bus showcased today will act as a digital classroom equipped with computing and printing technology, software and e-learning tools to empower the rural population with technology skills. The program will have five components, namely Digital literacy as part of the National digital literacy mission, IT education, Entrepreneurship development program, Common Public utility services and Video conferencing consultation.

Through this initiative, Indus Towers in association with NIIT Foundation aims to reach out to 48,000 lives across 12 villages in Vadodara. Under the program, digital literacy will be provided to 100 children/adults, IT literacy to 40 people, entrepreneurship development training to 20 people, video conferencing sessions to 700 beneficiaries and online services through Common Service Center (CSC) to 2000 beneficiaries per month per village. To further develop capacity building in digital literacy, NIIT will also certify the beneficiaries who have completed all the courses, which will make them eligible for other high level courses and host of other benefits.

Commenting on the inauguration, Nishith Dave, CEO-Gujarat Circle, Indus Towers, said that, "Promoting education is the first step towards transforming a society and at Indus Towers we are extremely proud to be working towards it in collaboration with the NIIT Foundation. Through this initiative, we aim to impart and benefit thousands of lives and help them enrich the present-day advancements of learning, seeking information around the globe and gaining additional knowledge across sectors."

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jigeeshaben Jatinbhai Sheth, Mayor, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, said that, "We strongly believe that knowledge is the key to transformation, and it is indeed a moment of pride that we have been able to successfully launch the Digital Transformation Van to promote quality digital education in the state."

Vadodara is fast becoming the knowledge capital of Gujarat and is on its way to become an IT hub. The initiative launched by Indus today will help spread digital literacy awareness, education and create capacity building that will help rural and the under-served communities to fully participate in the global digital economy.

About Indus Towers Limited

Indus Towers Limited is an independently managed company offering passive telecom infrastructure to all telecom operators. Indus is headquartered in the National Capital Region. Founded in 2007, Indus Towers Limited has been promoted under a joint venture amongst (i) Bharti Infratel Limited (group company of Bharti Airtel limited, rendering telecom services in India under the brand name Airtel), (ii) Vodafone India Limited (group company of Vodafone Group- UK) rendering telecom services in India under the brand name Vodafone, since merged with Idea Cellular Limited and (iii) Aditya Birla Telecom Limited (group company of Idea Cellular Limited, now re-named as Vodafone Idea Limited) which created history by collaborating to share telecom towers & infrastructure.

Indus has presence in 15 telecom circles of India and has achieved over 2,78,408 tenancies till date. With the current count of over 1,23,639 towers, Indus has the widest coverage in India and is also the largest telecom tower company in the world (outside China).

Indus Towers has been actively involved in developing scalable models for smart cities. The company's approach is to enable the integration of the digital infrastructure with the existing infrastructure. Recently, the company executed Smart Poles project for NDMC as part of its efforts to make Delhi a smart city.

Indus' vision of "Transforming Lives by Enabling Communication" is setting a new paradigm for a networked economy, on a world leading scale, whereby there is inclusive and impactful growth for all.

For any further information please visit the website http://www.industowers.com

About NIIT Foundation:

NIIT Foundation (NF) is a not-for-profit education society set up by the promoters of NIIT in 2004. Its mission is to positively impact the underprivileged of the country through its educational processes and also by providing them employability skills that betters their job prospects. Towards that, NF runs various grass roots initiatives by setting up skill development centers in urban and rural areas, installing hole-in-the-wall learning stations to bridge the digital divide, industry tie-ups for job placement of the underprivileged youth and supporting other NGOs through capacity building. NF brings professional skill set to the CSR domain and partners with corporates to implement their CSR projects.

NF's vision refined and revisited in 2017 is 'We will use skilling and education to show demonstrable, deep impact in every underserved community we work in.' NF has chosen to show this deep impact on communities by ensuring that every NF student becomes a change maker - A change-maker is someone who takes responsibility of self, her/his family and the community. These are three levels where she/he exhibits leadership abilities and brings about a change. The mission is to create 500,000 change makers by 2020.