Metta Social is closing the digital gap by giving laptops to the underprivileged
3 min read . Updated: 28 Jul 2021, 05:20 PM IST
PremiumMetta Social along with its partners have come up with the Digital Daana initiative which aims to enable access to digital education for 1 million children across the country.
India, 28th July 2021: For over the last decade, India has been progressing by leaps and bounds as a country with respect to its literacy rate. However, with the onset of the global pandemic, there was a roadblock in this progress. The shift in the medium of education to digital platforms caused a hindrance in the lives of many young students who didn’t have access to technology. According to UNICEF, just 24% of Indian households have internet facilities to access e-education - UNICEF. With the shift to online education, the unequal access to technology created a digital divide.
This is where Metta Social along with its partners came up with the Digital Daana initiative.
Digital Daana aims to enable access to digital education for 1 million children across the country by providing them Digital kits containing a laptop, 4G internet connection with a subscription for two years, and curated learning resources.
The Digital Daana initiative was launched on 26th Jan 2021 and distribution of Digital Kits began on 1st July 2021 at the Prarambh event. The event was graced by eminent personalities as well as students who joined in with the newly received laptops. The panel consisted of chief guest Ms. Sulajja Firodia Motwani, guest of honour Ms. Zeba Kohli, special guest Mr. Sindhu Bhaskar, Ashish Sapra - Chief Distribution Officer for Retail at Bajaj Alliance, Mehul Surve - Founder Director of Dogma Construction, Prof. Dr. Sunita Karad - Director of Information Communication Technology, MIT ADT University, Aakash Sethi - CEO Quest Alliance, Caroline Audoir De Valter - Founder CEO at Hope for The Children Foundation, Prasad Rajappan - Founder and MD at ZingHR, Anirudh Shrotriya - Founder and MD Shro Systems, Dr. Nikhil Agarwal – CEO of First@IIT-Kanpur, Sreenivas Narayanan - Managing Director of ASSIST, Karan Rele - Managing Director of Karya Resource Management, and Dr. Babar Afzal - Founder of Pashmina Goat Project.
The chief guest of the event, Ms. Sulajja Firodia Motwani is the Vice Chairman of Kinetic Engineering Ltd. and founder CEO of Kinetic green energy & power solutions Ltd. She said, “ I believe this initiative is very much needed and is going to make a big difference in the lives of so many young students. The future of the country is the youth, the next generation. And what this initiative is doing for the next generation is certainly something I feel proud to be associated with. This certainly will build the future for the youngsters who are being touched by this initiative."
The guest of honour for the event, Ms. Zeba Kohli is one of India’s most renowned entrepreneurs and a chocolatier. At the event, she said, “It’s an honour and a privilege to be associated with Digital Daana; I am humbled beyond words. It is with great pleasure that I have engaged, and I pledge to continue to engage in exchanging knowledge and intellect. Without this, the future of those who do not have access to digital learning will not exist."
The CEO and Co-founder of Metta Social, Mr. Vishal Naik said, “Every hand counts. Everything we do to improve our surroundings and lives around us counts. Together we can do so much more. With this thought, Metta Social embraced Digital Daana. We have built a smart technology platform that will measure the impact of these donations on the lives of children. Utmost transparency has been kept enabling the donors to donate with full confidence."
The campaign is getting funds from Indian citizens, diaspora, corporates, and foundations. The implementation of this campaign is driven by trust, transparency, and accountability. Furthermore, Co-Founder of Metta Social, Mr. Iftekhar Pathan announced that Dr. Sindhu Bhaskar will be leading the Digital Daana initiative in the United States.
The partners for the campaign are Quest Alliance and Hope for the Children Foundation as implementation partners, MSME Business Forum India and Zing HR as industry partners, and MIT-ADT University Pune as education partners. To further their cause, Metta Social is inviting donors and CSR opportunities.
Metta Social strives to help the Social Purpose organizations to create a better tomorrow. It helps them to raise funds, acquire the right resources to make an impact, and engage with the community to showcase the impact of their initiatives.
To learn more, visit: Digital Daana | Metta Social
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by SRV Media. No HT journalist is involved in the creation of this content.
