Belgian firm, Nasscom jointly launch NDLM centre in Hyderabad​​

Sharath Chowdary

The Belgian retailer Colruyt Group has partnered with Nasscom Foundation to launch the National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) centre in Hyderabad.

Colruyt is the first Belgian company to invest in providing digital literacy to people in India. This centre aims to train people from the marginalised sections of the society, in digital literacy in Borabanda and other areas of Hyderabad. 

The company, which has an IT development centre in Hyderabad, is thinking of investing further in the city and is looking at IT, electric, solar energy and other sectors including retail and wholesale of food products, Colruyt Group CEO Jeff Colruyt said while speaking to the media after inaugurating the centre on Wednesday. Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Nasscom Foundation CEO Shrikant Sinha, Nasscom-Hyderabad Head Srikanth Srinivasan were also present on the occasion.

Jeff Colruyt said Colruyt will enable training infrastructure as well as the trainers in this centre. The implementation partner of Colruyt, Nirmaan Organization will be training more than 1000 beneficiaries per year on digital devices, such as mobile phones and computers. The beneficiaries are mostly from the marginal communities.

Upon completion of training, the beneficiaries will be equipped to use the internet, send e-mails, communicate on the social media, access e-commerce portals, and learn how to avail several government services including registration of aadhar cards, ration cards, PAN cards etc.

Hari Subramanian, Head – India Operations, Colruyt Group said that the company is committed towards community development and improvement of the quality of life in society. Colruyt Group places a great emphasis on responsible entrepreneurship driven by empowerment, sustainability and consciousness.

He said the company plans to bring about a positive change and enhance human capital growth in the society. And for that to happen, Colryut has collaborated with Nasscom Foundation to contribute to the Indian Govt’s NDLM mission. He thanked the Government of Telangana for supporting them in this societal endeavour.

Jayesh Ranjan said that digital literacy is the backbone of Indian economy and the Telangana government has been extremely working towards empowering its citizens digitally. Hyderabad, being an IT hub, is poised to excel in improving digital literacy in the state.

Expressing similar views, Shrikant Sinha said that digital literacy is an important tool for empowerment of the rural communities in India. This is Nasscom Foundation’s 135th NDLM centre in the country and aims to open 250 centres by this year-end. These centres would help the citizens access government services.

Nasscom Foundation, the industry partner to Government of India has decided to complete the first phase target for NDLM by making 52.5 lakh individuals in the country digitally literate in the coming years.

(From R) Jef Colruyt, Jayesh Ranjan and Shrikant Sinha at the launch of NDLM centre in Hyderabad on Wednesday.