ICTs and Women Empowerment in India: The Kerala Experience
This paper deals with the integration of gender in policies relating to information and communication technology to empower socially excluded poor women. In this context, it examines an interventionist ICT policy undertaken by Kudumbashree (an innovative women based participatory program) to empower poor women in the South Indian State of Kerala. ICT initiatives under the umbrella of Kudumbashree have vast potential for empowering marginalized groups like women in the fields of employment and production. Given the basic literacy of the state, engendering ICT for poor women is feasible, provided the right organizational support is given. Through this program, women have entered the lowest rung of IT enabled jobs. If this initiative has to be sustained women should be helped to move to the higher levels of activities with more intense training and organizational support. There is a need for continuous enhancement of skills and capacity building particularly in the context of the fast changing technology associated with the IT sector. The point that needs to be stressed is that while the state implementing agency has concentrated on the supply side, the demand side aspects such as output, market research, and customer service etc; have been largely ignored. The current practice of digitization of government records through Kudumbashree has its limitations. Work is bound to peter out when the backlog of digitization work is completed. The solution to this lies in the expanded role of the agency. The units have to diversify the customer base with the government acting as a facilitator. It is possible to ensure continuous income and employment through work contracts of a different kind and not program specific.
ICTs Gender justice Digital literacy Self-help groups Employment
P. VISHNU Dev K. ARJUN Rao Ch. Parandamulu
Faculty, Department of Sociology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India Professor, Department of History, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India
国际会议
2012 International Conference on Public Administration(8th)(2012年公共管理国际会议 ICPA)
印度海德拉巴
英文
948-953
2012-10-25（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）