Surekha heads a Bachat Gat and has to maintain records for this group. Previously, she would struggle to manually maintain the files and registers. She was not aware of convenient digital ways to do this. She was not aware of the Pune Mahanagar Palika websites Samaj Vikas tab through which she could have done her job in a more organized manner. During the lockdown, it became even more difficult as accessing records physically from everyone became difficult. Surekha learnt about the DE course from one of the alumni. To get her work done in a better and digitally sound way, she joined the DE course. Now, she is better adept at managing her tasks in a timely and secure manner from the confines of her home.

The financial support provided by CybageKhushboo helped me complete my B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology, Pune. The CSR team supported me with various technical and soft skills training sessions to help me prepare for job interviews. The confidence I gained from the training sessions helped me crack the interview with LTIMindtree as a Graduate Trainee Engineer. I express my deepest gratitude towards Ritu Ma’am and the CybageKhushboo team for giving me incredible support and opportunities.

I am grateful to CybageKhushboo for supporting me with financial aid during a difficult phase in my life. The Trust conducted various web development, app development, and soft skills classes that assisted me in cracking interviews. The training sessions shaped me and my career. Today, I work at Tejas Networks as an R&D Engineer. CybageKhushboo has played an important role in my life. Thank you so much!

Akash is a student residing at a hostel at Dhankawdi. Akash lost his parents at a very early age and has been living alone since then. As Akash had to be independent of a very early age, independence is something that has been important to him. He always wanted to start his own business, but due to lack of education and also as he had no way to reach out to people, he had no clue from where he could begin his journey. When he joined this course, he got the idea of starting his own business. He decided to build a website and tie-up with the local milk providers so that people could order milk online without leaving their houses. Akash has now started to build his website with the help of his friends. Once his website goes live, he is also going to pursue a Digital Marketing course.

I am Nisha Shreedhar Dasame. I got a scholarship for C-DAC Course from Cybage in February. I completed my course in January, and it makes me very happy to tell you that I got a first-class in the exam. I got a job in CDAC R&D on the very first day the placement activity started. I want to say Thank you very much to the Cybage Team for supporting me for the last 4 years and building my confidence and giving a good start to my career. Without you, this would not have been possible. Thank you very much

Ayesha is a student of Nutan Madhyamik Vidyalaya and resides in Shinde Vasti. Her father works in a private company in a clerical post and is the sole earning member of the family. Ayesha wanted to learn about digital devices. Coming from an underprivileged background, she never got an opportunity to do so. But by attending the DE course she became well versed in digital platforms. Ayesha learnt that tracking ration is possible online. She is thankful to CybageKhushboo and Pune City Connect for this opportunity to learn new things.

Srushti is a resident of Shukrawar Peth. Her father runs a clothes shop and is the sole earning member of the family. Shrushti wanted to continue her education but due to the financial situation of the household, she could not. She came across a WhatsApp forward for the DE class and contacted the facilitators. Her father’s business had suffered during the lockdown. When she learnt that the DE course offered training on diverse digital topics including online payments and Swayam app, she was motivated to join the course. Srushti learnt about online payment apps that enabled her father to do quick online payments to wholesalers and customers. She also joined the free course for banking and accounting on the Swayam app. With this, she could help her father and participate actively in her father’s business.

Tabassum is a resident of Nana Peth who runs a small photocopy shop. Tabassum’s husband worked in a company in a clerical position but during the lockdown, his income stopped. This made Tabassum the sole earning member running a household of four. She came to know about the course and saw it as an opportunity to learn things online and use the knowledge in her business as well. Tabassum registered on the Maharashtra Government's “Aaple Sarkar” website and applied for the shop act licence for her photocopy shop. She even applied for a shop act licence for one of her customers. She is helping others with this knowledge gained. Tabassum is able to operate digital devices with a lot of confidence now.

Ranjana is an Anganwadi sevika. She has a family of six and, along with her husband, contributes to the income of the household. She did not know about online transactions and faced problems. When she got to know about the DE course and its curriculum, she was motivated to join. In this course, Ranjana learnt how to do online transactions and is now very proficient in this. From being someone who could barely operate a smartphone, Ranjana has become a digitally confident person.

After completing his ITI, Sarjerao worked for a company for a brief period and then started his own business of repairing electronic devices. During the lockdown, Sarjerao’s business suffered for two reasons: 1) customers could not physically approach him, and 2) even when the customers came, payments suffered as cash transactions became erratic. This often led to delayed payments. Sarjerao came to know about the DE course and joined the training to learn something that could help his business during the lockdown. Sarjerao learnt about e-payment apps through which he started receiving payments from his customers immediately. Now, he does not have to wait long for receiving cash payments. Through this course, Sarjerao also learnt that social media can be used for promoting his business. He plans to promote his business through Facebook and WhatsApp very soon which would help in getting online customers.