Empowerment of women is one of the major indicators of sustainable development of a society. Empowered women are catalysts of social change to strengthen the social, political and economic structure of the society.

The Rural BPOs under CSC have been empowering rural women and bringing about a positive change in the society by providing them opportunities of employment and source of income within their locality.

Sarita Kumari from Jharkhand is one such woman who, in real sense, got benefited from this scheme. Sarita used to work at the paddy fields for livelihood in her village in Ranchi. She not only got an opportunity to explore her potential while working at the Rural BPO, but has also become an inspiration for other young women in the society.

Hailing from a farmer’s family, Sarita, 24 years, had just completed 12th standard when she got married to Avinash Kumar in 2014. Subsequently, she abandoned any thought of continuing her education, however, her husband’s and mother-in-law’s motivation led her to complete graduation in Hindi from Silli College in 2017.

During graduation she enrolled herself for CCC (Course on Computer Concepts) computer training course at the CSC run by VLE Basant Kumar Mahato at Silli block. Basant taught her computer skills for free of cost owing to her financial conditions.

Seeing her adept computer skills, VLE Bansat Kumar, who started a Rural BPO in December 2017, approached her to work as a Tele-caller. Now as a Tele-caller she collects data for survey by making calls to customers from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and other states. This has not only supported her family financially, but she has also become a role model for other girls in the village.

Apart from Sarita, VLE Basant has provided employment opportunity to nine women from backward communities of nearby villages at his Rural BPO. These women are now supporting their family and inspiring other women in nearby villages to get digitally literate for a better future.

Significantly, so many Rural BPOs have been started across the country, employing hundreds of women in rural India. The concept of Rural BPOs has been devised by the Government with a view to strengthen rural economy by providing employment opportunities to youths in villages and small towns, putting a check on surging migration to cities.editor@ictpost.com