The pilot project to address the mobile gender gap in the country will take off in 87 villages in Aligarh district of Western Uttar Pradesh. The aim is to reduce the obstacles women face in accessing mobile services and owning handsets.To be executed by Uninor through a grant of $70,000 given by GSMA’s Mobile for Development Foundation and $11,400 from its own funds, the rollout of the pilot will involve 40 women and four supervisors including Anganwadi and Asha workers, who are influential in spreading the message.
Christened ‘Project Sampark’, the pilot will pinpoint the barriers women face in accessing mobile services such as affordability, mental block or social stigma. To help generate livelihoods, the company also intends to train women entrepreneurs to sell mobile prepaid connections and recharge vouchers in their villages.