ICTs and women's empowerment: some case studies from India

ICTs are emerging as a powerful tool for gender empowerment in a developing country like India. There has been a rapid growth in the ICT sector since the late 1980s and the use of ICT has dramatically expanded since the 1990s. According to the World Bank, teledensity in India had reached 3.8% of the population by 2001. The number of internet accounts is growing at a rate of 50% per annum. The ITES‐BPO sector alone grew at 59%, and employment had reached 106,000 by 2004 [NASSCOM 2004]. The IT and ITES sector is projected to grow 18% in the next five years to become an industry of Rs 4.58 lakh crores by 2011, according to an IDC release . But there is a strong digital divide in society. According to the 2004 report by the Cisco Learning Institute women comprise only 23% of India’s internet users. This gender digital divide in India is characterised by low levels of access to technologies. Poverty, lack of computer literacy and language barriers are among the factors impeding access to ICT infrastructure, especially in developing countries. 

 

This paper looks at the avenues created by ICT‐enabled networking processes for women’s empowerment. It discusses the main challenges and obstacles faced by women, suggests 

practical strategies to address those challenges and goes on to suggest ways to improve the conditions leading to women’s empowerment. The paper also analyses a case study from India and examines how women’s ‘power within’ has been enhanced through their access to and control of Information and Communication by use of ICTs.