Status Note on Wireless for Communities (W4C)
Location: Juria, Nagaon, Assam.
Date : 16/09/2015
Our country has celebrated her 68th year of independence and is one of the fast growing economies in the world today. However we still find abysmal inequalities in the division of the fruits of this development. This is particularly so when we see the imbalances existing in rural and remote regions of India. It may be due to lack of education, lack of financial inclusion, poor access to health care etc. One of the most important factors leading to this inequity that does not get discussed much is the lack of information dissemination which may be responsible for the resultant poverty, unemployment, ill health, poor housing etc
One island of hope and satisfaction in this dismal scenario has been the initiative of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) & Tata Trusts Trusts in the form of Wireless for Communities (W4C). This was rolled out in the rural marginalized areas of Assam, where the accessing information through internet whether from institution, office or home is a distant dream for people. This W4C tower is basically a remarkable initiative in Juria block of Nagaon district in Assam. Through this initiative three ITE (Integrated Technology in Education) learning centers for school students are connected, where students can access the high speed internet facilities and receive latest information and knowledge about various concepts of their course curriculum. This W4C is mainly connected to three places/centres namely Alitangani, Dagaon and Juria via Nagaon district town.
Current Status of ITE Centres:
- The centres are enrolled with more than 500 students.
- The ITE centres connected with 17 Government Schools.
- These centres are accessible to even the private schools in the vicinity.
- These centres maintain a constant engagement with the community by conducting regular extra-curricular activities and programmes.
Expected Outcome from W4C:
- It will serve the students community with best update knowledge
- It will fulfill all ITE (Integrated Technology in Education) in complete sense
- It will also serve as resource centre for all schools teachers
- It will also serve as a resource centre for whole communities.
Current Status of W4C:
- There are 4 (four) W4C internet towers set up at Nagaon district
- There is one W4C source internet tower is in Nagaon town with 10 mpbs speed
- There are another 3 (three) W4C internet towers connected in 3 different ITE centers with 2 mpbs speed
- The three ITE centers namely ITE Kendra Dagaon (Hub), ITE Kendra Juria & ITE Kendra Alitangani