Reliance Jio Teams Up With Facebook To Start An All-India Digital Literacy Drive

In the last two and a half years, Reliance Jio has come a long way, emerging as one of India’s largest telecom networks. Jio is a revolution that reached ten million Indians and has changed the way we browse internet and consume mobile data today. With flagship devices like JioPhone, users have access to a slew of its ecosystem apps. But this growth has not come without challenges.

With increased availability of cheap data, there is a rampant rise in the propagation of fake news on WhatsApp in India, leading people to believe whatever they see on their screens in true.

As a precautionary measure, Reliance Jio is set to launch the biggest ever digital literacy drive ‘Digital Udaan’ to educate users about internet safety and how they should engage with popular services and its devices. During its course, the Digital Udaan programme will offer audio-visual training in 10 regional languages and provide informational brochures and training videos to first-time internet users in India.

Social media giant Facebook is Reliance’s ally in this mission. The social media giant has helped Jio to build and curate modules relevant for people in urban and rural India. With Digital Udaan, Jio plans to conduct training sessions in about 200 different towns across 13 states. It will cover over 7,000 locations in the future, with JioPhone users being its target.

“Digital Udaan initiative is one such example, which will help eradicate barriers of information asymmetry and provide accessibility in real time. It is a program for inclusive information, education and entertainment, where no Indian will be left out of this digital drive,” said Akash Ambani, director of Reliance Jio in a statement on Wednesday.

The initiative aims to make individuals aware of search functionalities so that they have better access to government and financial schemes online. Jio executives will personally engage with users for a hands-on training experience across 200 locations in the first phase on every Saturday.―Mashable India