Jharkhand

Carved out of Southern Bihar in the year 2000, the state of Jharkhand is located at the eastern part of India. The state shares its borders with the state of Bihar to the north, West Bengal to the east, Odisha to the south and Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh to the west.

Jharkhand comprises of some of the most important industrial cities of India, including Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro Steel City. In fact, Jharkhand accounts for almost 40% of the total mineral resources of the country.

Ever since its formation, the state of Jharkhand has witnessed rapid transformation in terms of industry as well as standards of lifestyle. However, such growth seems to have touched only the urban spaces of the region. More than three quarters of the population is rural, out of which a large section is marginalized and lives in forest and semi-forest areas. Due to inaccessibility of habitat, this section remains perennially deprived of basic development infrastructure, which includes clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, available medicine and healthcare.  Furthermore, scarcity of communication mediums in remote locations has plunged people further into information darkness, keeping them ignorant of their rights and entitlements, government welfare programmes, financial services, and new employment opportunities.  Over a quarter of the population belongs to tribal communities who engage in traditional occupations for sustenance People in general, are unaware of new approaches for upgrading their current livelihoods and increasing their incomes, owing to the absence of digitally driven, skill enhancement initiatives. This has led to widespread socio-economic stagnation across the region.

Digital inclusion would be a highly effective tool to combat these developmental challenges prevailing in rural Jharkhand.  Even a basic ICT setup established in remote corners of the region will immensely benefit the entire community. People would have the power to access important information whenever they need. They could stay updated of rights and entitlements, welfare schemes, new livelihood opportunities, etc., besides availing government and commercial services online. Digitally equipped Community Information Resource Centres (CIRCs) would provide the under reached communities with equitable platforms to identify problems, voice their opinions and formulate viable solutions at the local level, thereby encouraging greater participatory governance. With internet, men and women belonging to the tribal communities could explore ways to modernise their current occupations and transform them into sustainable livelihoods. For instance, e-Commerce would not only help ethnic artisans to showcase their skills globally but help them flourish in national and international markets. With computer education, a plethora of professional avenues would open to the tribal youth, so that they could shape a bright future for themselves. In this way, digital tools would not only transform lives, but also help in the creation of digitally empowered, knowledge society; one that that matches its pace of growth with that of rapidly growing digital India.

General

(* The figures are according to 2001 Census)

Dhurwa

CIRC-Ranchi stands on sector-3, Dhurwa.It was small village before division of Bihar. It has 20000-30000 population. Most of the people are from Muslims and Adibasi Minority. Nayasarai, Sithio, Jagannathpur are the local villages. Traditionally they are farmers and workers. After HEC-Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd opened, villagers had started to join this Read more.

Giridih

CIRC, Giridih is working well under Nav Jagriti Yuva Mandal, with the financial and infrastructural support by Digital Empowerment Foundation, Delhi. CIRC is most advantageous for youth here. In this centre many people are getting computer education through digital literacy program. Recently 60 students are enrolled in computer course Read More