The Indian subsidiary of the information technology major, Microsoft Corporation, on 11th February 2005, announced a $108,000 grant each to M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and Datamation Foundation Charitable Trust under its `Unlimited Potential Programme.'

The grant under the programme, which seeks to empower women and communities through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural areas, will be disbursed over a one-year period. A press release announcing the roll-out of the second round of funding under the programme, quoted Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Microsoft Corporation India, saying that the mission was to leverage technology to create equal opportunities for individuals in both rural and urban areas.

Mr. Chetan Sharma, founder, Datamation Foundation Charitable Trust, said in the release that with the grant the trust would set a pilot `ICT for development' project aimed at reaching out to the poor and semi-literate women of Kanpur-Lucknow corridor in Uttar Pradesh. The community in the areas comprises women engaged in traditional `chikankari' embroidery. In the project period, 3,000 women would be trained by upgrading the two CTLCs and adding six more to the network.

Source: The Hindu