Internet Roshni (Light) for the Vulnerable Tea Tribes in India

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT 

The project seeks to leverage the aspirations and capacities of local entrepreneurial youths as ‘Soochnapreneurs’ (Information Entrepreneurs), by upgrading the mobile data networks in their garden setups, running Internet access points in the Community Internet Libraries (CILs), and serving local needs for access, information, linkages, opportunities, Internet skills and more.  

WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT? 

The tea tribe community (adivasi community or aboriginals) constitute 20% of Assam State’s population in India. Around one million people work in around 1000 tea gardens, and more than 70% are women. The community’s social and economic indicators are some of the lowest in the country: one of the worst per capita income and purchasing power, a literacy level of less than 40%, a largely oral community speaking the local ‘Sadri’ dialect, and the community is an example of “Internet and information poverty”.  

Given the remoteness of the gardens and the specificity of the terrain, the tea tribe regions have low rates of Internet access and coverage. Further, due to the high cost of setting up Internet infrastructure, these regions are low-interest areas for the telecom and Internet service providers. Due to adverse social and economic conditions in the community, even community network solutions are difficult due to cost and sustainability. The only way to address this Internet vulnerability without delay is by leveraging existing limited mobile data networks in the gardens, data boosted by mobile phone signal booster devices and channelling in concentrated Community Internet libraries (CILs) with access to network, information and resources. Mobile signal boosters support will provide strength to network signal in gardens and, help overcome the presence of numerous dead spots with no signal or very poor signal, thus increasing wireless reach and coverage in such areas. 

The project helps to take the Internet to the tea tribe community members, who are mostly women without smartphones or personal devices. The project aims to make their use of the Internet more meaningful, to equip the community to have essential Internet skills for empowerment, and to enable access to critical public information.