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Writer's pictureKomal Tamakhuwala

National Commission for Women to provide digital literacy to girl students



National Commission for Women (NCW) has recently launched an online resource centre on cyber safety as part of the ‘We Think Digital’ programme. It is run in collaboration with Facebook and Cyber Peace Foundation.

“The project was launched as Digital Shakti in 2018, under which 60,000 girl students were trained in digital literacy and online safety across India. The training has seen enthusiastic participation from universities and colleges across the country. The aim is to sensitise 150,000 students on the fundamentals of online safety and digital literacy. The initiative was introduced to deal with increasing cyber-crimes against women.” said Rekha Sharma, chairperson, NCW

“In phase three, the aim is to sensitise 150,000 students on the fundamentals of online safety and digital literacy. The initiative was introduced to deal with increasing cyber-crimes against women.”


“The project builds resilience and the ability to fight cyber-crime in the most effective ways. Sessions on Data Privacy, Social Media Safety, Cyber Ethics, Digital Wellbeing, Cyber Laws and crimes are conducted.”


Most women who are victims of cybercrimes, do not file complaints and this prompted us to start this programme, further adds Sharma. The online resource centre was inaugurated by Ramesh Bais, Jharkhand governor and Rekha Sharma, chairperson of NCW in the presence of Vineet Kumar who is the founder and director of the Cyber Peace Foundation.


M Jagannadha Rao, vice-chancellor, Adikavi Nannaya University (ANU) in Rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh, says, “Around 10,000 girl students joined the session from different affiliated colleges, which helped them use technology for empowering themselves, enable them to make smart choices and secure themselves from online risks. The webinar has also helped transform the learning process and bring about systemic change to use the online platform securely.”


Roy George K, principal, St Thomas College, Kerala, says the students learnt the basics of internet safety which involves creating strong passwords, understanding and using privacy settings. Cases of cyberbullying are on a rise, due to which most institutes are encouraging girls to understand the perils of the cyber world.

The majority of women who are victims of cybercrime do not submit complaints, which motivated Sharma to launch this initiative. In the presence of Vineet Kumar, the founder and director of the Cyber Peace Foundation, the online resource centre was opened by Ramesh Bais, the governor of Jharkhand, and Rekha Sharma, the chairman of NCW.

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