The National Commission for Women implemented the 'Yashoda AI' on May 22, 2025, to create AI and cybersecurity skills in women from rural backgrounds.
This is essential towards empowering women to work in technology, and for women to be safe in the digital world, and for inclusive growth, and then beyond. The Yashoda AI initiative will provide skills training. The campaign is intended as a pan-India program aimed towards making women technically competent and participants in India's AI journey, therefore contributing towards a Viksit Bharat. To advance AI literacy, cybersecurity knowledge, and digital safety awareness among women.
Initiative Overview:-
"Yashoda AI", a programme launched by the NCW, is geared toward empowering women with skills relating to AI, cybersecurity and digital safety. Over 200,000 women, especially in rural and semi urban communities will be reached in the first stage of this programme to be involved in the technological development.
Importance:-
This project is very important for empowering women, addressing the tech gender gap and encouraging safety in the digital space. It will protect women's rights in digital spaces and encourage leadership in technology by educating women to understand how to strategize around digital privacy and safety.
Uses:-
It consists of programming in local languages, had conversations about AI crimes and digital privacy, and connection with groups such as students, educators, and law enforcement, all generating a ripple effect of digital learning.
Target Audience:-
Women from rural and semi-urban areas: Self Help Groups(SHGs), ASHA workers, teachers, female government employees, and panchayat women representatives
Aiming to encourage women to be "AI Sakhi", to help both their families and Digital India.
Key Objectives:-
Empowerment: Provide training in AI, cybersecurity, and digital literacy, resulting in women able to lead, in tech enabled sectors.
Digital Safety: Sensitize participants online to digital privacy and AI generated crimes to ensure women can protect their rights.
Inclusive Growth: Work with rural and semi-urban communities that are marginalised / less privileged to make sure everyone has equitable access to technology.
The project was started with Future Shift Labs (FSL). The new initiative targets over 200,000 women in its first phase with an emphasis on those in marginalized communities for equitable growth through technological advancement. The initiative uses the spirit of the broader aspiration of "Viksit Bharat" (Developed India) to help engender women-built development and women's digital empowerment. Timeliness is important given that digital reliance is growing and the incidences of harm from cyber threats are also increasing, with a greater concern in some contexts for women.
In-Depth Objectives of the Project:-
The objectives of "Yashoda AI" are multi-dimensional and of utmost importance regarding the challenges of technology adoption, digital safety, and inclusivity for growth.
Here are the full details:-
Equipping Women with Technological Skills
- The central aim is to further women's AI literacy and digital awareness. The initiative delivers webinars and training courses in AI, cybersecurity, and digital literacy that are mainly in local languages for inclusivity.
- The initiative provides women with the opportunity to upskill as we equip women with these future-proof skills and have them be part of the economy and society-based opportunities that come up. This includes direct workshops around using AI tools and digital platforms to enhance employability and entrepreneurial potential.
- Ultimately, by having women at the leading edge of tech-based and tech-driven sectors, it will create a situation where women are not only participants but creatives driving India's future in technology.
Addressing the Gender Digital Divide
This program aims to address the ongoing gender divide in technology adoption and skills, which is an important issue in a traditionally male-dominated field.
It focuses on rural and semi-urban women (and girls) – those who may not have always had access to technology education – to help bridge both the geographical and gender divide while also aligning with the vision of women-led development, as articulated by the government of India's leaders, so that women have equity with technology.
Its goal is to create a network of "AI Sakhis" (AI friends), which represent support and empowerment, who can take the lead and incite others in their local communities.
Building Awareness and Safety Online
A primary objective is to inform women and girls about issues concerning digital privacy, AI enabled crimes, and effective safety practices. The increase in cyber threats, from identity theft to cyberstalking and financial fraud, is critical to women's freedoms in digital spaces.
This program will move beyond training organizations to convene discussions on broad critical issues, like AI enabled crimes and digital privacy, to ensure women and girls are prepared to navigate the digital world with the confidence and security they deserve.
This program facilitates NCW's ongoing commitment to educating women and girls, expanding on its work in cyber awareness, gender justice and women-led safety innovations, while promoting a culture of digital safety and self-determination.
Advancing Inclusive & Community-Focused Digital Education
The platform "Yashoda AI" is structured as a community-engaged and community-focused model of digital education, combining actors as varied as learners, teachers, Self Help Group (SHG) women, ASHA workers, teachers, panchayat members, government workers, etc.
Yashoda AI aims to create a cycle of digital literacy through training women to be "AI Sakhis" and, by being AI Sakhis, share knowledge with their community. This is a sustainable model that encourages inclusive growth and can reach every nuka in the country.
At the root of this initiative is student, teacher, and women from the police force involvement to develop a multi-stakeholder ecosystem to strengthen community resilience to satisfy digital needs.
Fostering Leadership and Self-Reliance
The initiative focuses on sparking confidence and enabling informed choice, and is epitomized in the words of NCW Chairperson Smt. Vijaya Rahatkar "true change starts when a woman has mastered the tools of the future; Yashoda AI Abhiyan is not just about learning technology, it is about sparking confidence, enabling informed choices, and empowering every woman to shape a safe and inclusive digital tomorrow."
By fostering self-reliance, it seeks to enable women to make decisions about their footprint in the digital world, increasing their economic and social autonomy.
Aligning Established National Development Initiatives
"Yashoda AI" showcases India's commitment to inclusive digital empowerment and responsible governance of AI systems, drawing from conversations at the Global Summit on AI Governance in Paris.
It is an initiative that supports the vision of a "Viksit Bharat," using technology to promote inclusive growth so that women and marginalized women are not left behind in the growing digital world.
The initiative aligns with the Prime Minister's focus on women-led development, signaling the important role women play in India's technology and economy.
Implementation and Main Features:-
In reaching its goal, "Yashoda AI" has used various mechanisms:
Training Sessions: Full length sessions taught in local dialects that cover areas such as AI, internet security, and digital literacy, along with workshop sessions for hands-on learning, enrichment, and interaction.
Interactive Sessions about Serious Topics: Engaging lecture sessions on risks of AI enabled crimes, digital privacy, and digital safety strategies to ensure women know of the risk landscape and vulnerability and to remind them about safety and protecting themselves.
Community Groups: Engagement with as many types of people as possible to maximize impact, while implementing community-driven digital learning. Engaging students, faculty, and law enforcement in a manner that drives digital safety culture from the community-outwards.
Potential for Scale: Future directions are to scale beyond the early pilot phase and take Yashoda AI across India to potentially reach millions of women and have the societal impact so potential buyers and sponsors would like to see.
The Chairperson of NCW, Smt. Vijaya Rahatkar, said, "Real change will follow when a woman learns to use the tools of the future. Yashoda AI Abhiyan is not only about skills in technology; but also making women confident to make informed choices for themselves and empowering every woman to build a safe and inclusive digital future."
Nitin Narang, Founder of FSL, also added, "This is not only about AI literacy, this is about inclusion, dignity, and digital empowerment for India's women - and is an important pillar to build a Viksit Bharat!"
Potential Impacts:-
Although "Yashoda AI" is anchoring on women's empowerment as its primary focus area, it has the potential to create positive indirect impacts across other focus areas as well.
- Environmental Sustainability: Empowered women may create or use AI for sustainable practices, including precision agriculture or renewable energy management, and contribute to more sustainable practices, impacting the environment positively.
- Societal Resilience: The role it plays in creating digital literacy has the effect of building resilience in communities to cyber threats and allowing for a more safe digital society.
- Economic Growth: Skilled women could fuel innovation and entrepreneurship, which contributes positively to economic growth and reducing gendered economic gaps.
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