Enhancing ICT Literacy among Rural Women: A Case Study on Capacity Building through Targeted Interventions

Abstract

Information plays an essential role in improving rural women's decision-making in agriculture and related fields by increasing their understanding of new technologies, inputs, pricing and market demand of various agricultural commodities. Integration of Information Communication Technology (ICT) with agriculture may transform the agricultural industry and enhance the overall economy of the country. The present study involves a multistage random sampling design and a total of 30 numbers of respondents were selected as the respondents for the present study. The study was conducted to assess the impact of the intervention programme on knowledge and practice on use of selected ICT applications among the rural women. Based on the existing knowledge of respondents on ICTs an intervention programme was organized. The intervention programme includes a detailed module related to the use of different ICT tools in a vernacular language so that the respondents can assess the information easily and comfortably at their doorstep. The study reveals that before interventions mean score of their knowledge was 18.4 and after intervention immediate post knowledge scores was 41.26. Further it was found that before interventions mean score of their existing practices was 7.76 and after intervention immediate adoption of practices scores was 13.33. Through this intervention, the rural women become able to gain knowledge and enhance their skills in use of different information through ICT. This knowledge could help them in developing their socio- economic status. Hence the study states that similar type of intervention programmes on ICT applications among the rural women may increase their knowledge and enhance their practice on different aspects related to agriculture and allied areas.