On March 08, 2021, the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, vowed to aid the rural women of his home-country under the initiatives of ‘Internet Saathi Program’ at the ‘Women Will’ event.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Google had announced to grant around US$ 25 million to assist the financial empowerment of rural women of India at a virtual Google for India event of ‘Women Will.’ In this effort, Google’s Internet Saathi Program will be promoting virtual education for women in rural areas. This initiative will provide various programs along with mentorship and community support for the women entrepreneurs of rural communities.
The Internet Saathi Program was introduced by Google in partnership with Tata Trusts 2015. This joint venture aimed to develop literacy skills virtually among the rural women and to shorten the gender divide in the country. This non-profit nationwide initiative is a big success for Google and its partners as it has benefitted around 30 million women throughout India with 80,000 ‘saathis’ offering training to these women digitally.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said that, “During the pandemic, women are more likely to lose their jobs and around 20 million school girls are at a risk of not returning to school. We’ve got the opportunity to build an equal and inclusive future – and we should grab it.” Pichai continued, “The success of Internet Saathi Program has proved the way virtual education, and virtual accessibility can support the underprivileged women to reach their complete potential and raise their livelihoods.”
With its consistent efforts to economically empower rural women, Google has launched the ‘Women Will’ platform developed for women willing to become an entrepreneur. Besides English, this platform will also offer mentorship to women in their native national language of Hindi.