Women’s lib and digital literacy

When I first visited Puducherry in 2004 on my travels to look at all the marquee projects in Internet and communication technologies for development and governance, I learnt about the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation’s work with the local fisherfolk. The initiative was supposed to get weather reports and broadcast them through a public announcement system that was installed in a temple in a fishing village. The centre also provided other relevant information to fishermen.

Since then, I have been to Puducherry regularly and always stayed in a particular guesthouse close to French Town. Every time I walked to one of the fishing villages, I thought there should be community information resource centres (CIRC) in them. Although many of these villages are close to French Town (some are about 500 metres away), life in the town and the villages was radically different.

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