Lenovo has partnered with government of Maharashtra to provide technology for the first phase of the Village Social Transformation Mission.
Under the partnership, Lenovo will provide 110 tablets with a view to bring technology based efficiencies in health, education, water conservation and irrigation programmes.
Village Social Transformation Mission is an initiative, announced by the chief minister of Maharashtra in August 2016 which aims to transform 1,000 villages affected by drought or social challenges into model villages by 2018.
Lenovo tablets will be used by rural development fellows who have been specifically hired to take the mission forward. The first phase will cover 100 villages that will cover talukas and gram panchayats of Aurangabad, Nagpur and Wardha districts.
The chief minister’s fellowship members will own the social transformation and will work with the local government (gram panchyats) and corporates/NGOs and the state government.
Rahul Agarwal, MD & CEO, Lenovo India said, “We believe that technology implementation at the grass root level is the key to a successful transformation story of our country. The initiative by the state government is a step in the right direction to meet the goal of self-sustainable development and empowering the citizens by technology.”
The initiative fits well into Lenovo’s CSR strategy and vision for providing technology for quality education that includes skill training and learning practical aspects of sustainable development through technology based platforms.
The Village Social Transformation Mission is a unique mechanism with the potential to transform rural Maharashtra. It aims to provide hard and soft infrastructure and quality last mile service delivery, empowering villages to practice self-sustainable development.
The mission will converge government efforts with activities undertaken by corporates under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) Act. Existing corporate activities will be supported by existing government schemes and administrative machinery. Meanwhile, the government will incorporate corporate best practices, technical expertise and insights.
