Harisal, a village in the Melghat region of Amravati, Maharashtra, India, had been chosen to be developed as India's first Ideal Digital Village back in 2016-17, under the Digital India initiative by the Government of India.
While Microsoft has been heading the project, Virtual Agri Services (VAS), one of the partners, had been working on creating and developing Self-Help Groups (SHGs) with women in the village, working primarily on livelihood creation. I work with VAS on research and strategy while I document the stories and progress of the SHGs.
The women of Harisal got to interact with women from SHGs in Warangal district, Telangana, drawing from their decade-long experience of working as groups in building sustainable livelihood growth.
This was as part of their training program during a visit to the National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad.
(ongoing project)