Knowledge on wheels: Renault India donates cars for PMGDISHA cause

Almost 70 per cent of India’s population lives in rural areas. According to the 2011 census reports, roughly 800 million people live in over 600,000 villages spread across the country. The untapped potential of rural India has been realized over the years and is reflected in the various government schemes being rolled out to aid development.

The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (PMGDISHA) is the flagship programme of the Indian Government to provide digital literacy to its rural citizens. The fast pace of digitalization has placed a very powerful tool at the hands of the ordinary Indian citizen. Educating them on its constructive usage is a necessity to ensure avoidance of dangerous pitfalls.

Motor vehicles are an important part of this overall effort. The only lifeline that connects rural India to its cities and metropolitan is the network of roads that crisscrosses the country. Vehicles become an indispensable tool in this scenario.

As part of its CSR efforts, Renault India partnered with CSC e-Governance Services (Common Service Centres) to promote PMGDISHA. To that end, five cars were handed over to CSC e-Governance Services to facilitate their travel.

This will enhance the mobility of the CSC e-Governance Services as they journey across rural and semi-rural India in an effort to upskill and help them develop vocational and professional skills. CSC e-Governance Services aim to cover at least 600 gram panchayats across India as part of this programme.

The partnership between Renault India and CSC will focus on empowering rural India. As part of the initiative, computer classes along with lessons on the correct handling and usage of digital devices like laptops and mobiles will be covered. Web browsing and accessing government websites and banking services including digital payments will also be taken up in the classes.

Renault India’s cars will facilitate movement of the CSC teams as they conduct training sessions on digital and financial skills in rural areas. Additionally, the vehicles will also help Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) spread COVID appropriate behavior and protocols in these trying times.

This is not the first time Renault India has made rural India the target of its CSR activity. Just last year, it joined hands with CSC Grameen e-Store in its endeavour to move closer to its rural customers and strengthen its rural presence.

Venkatram Mamillapalle, Country CEO & Managing Director, Renault India Operations, was very enthused about the partnership. “Digital literacy is a key component of the Government’s vision of building an empowered society and we are excited to contribute to this development of a digital economy by collaborating with CSC, one of the crucial enablers of the Digital India programme. The Renault cars will act as ‘Knowledge Repository on Wheels’ supporting in empowering people in rural areas by providing them access to information, knowledge and requisite skills,” he said.

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