The Pune Beehive, a community portal, a product of the constructive partnership of Pratham InfoTech Foundation and One Global Economy was officially launched on the 11th of February, 2012 at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture, Pune. This portal aims at improving the lives of the under privileged communities in Pune. It contains locally relevant articles in Marathi, based on five topics namely, Money, Health, Education, Jobs and Agriculture as well as resources that can be helpful in various ways.
The Chief guests for the day were Mr. Achyut Godbole, IT expert and Dr. Madhav Chavan, Founder, Pratham. There were many people present from all fields and age groups. These included subject matter experts, health professionals, agriculturists, authors, women’s self help groups, principals and professors from various schools and colleges in Pune, as well as students - in full strength. There were stalls put up with IT related products displayed as well as laptops arranged for everyone to browse through the portal once its launched.
The day began with a speech by Mr. Prem Yadav, Director, Pratham InfoTech Foundation. Mr. Pravin Dhopat, Editor, The Pune Beehive, led everyone through the 1 year journey of the making of the portal, which was more of a learning experience for all associated with it. The portal was then formally launched by our renowned chief guests. PIF’s new program, Digital Community Connectors program was launched along with a few words on what it is all about, by Mrs. Rekha Mohit. The fellows of the Pune Beehive Fellowship program, namely, the FellowBees were felicitated. This was a moment of great honour and encouragement for all of them. One of the FellowBees, Shreya Ayachit spoke of her experience as a FellowBee and all that she had learnt and cherished during the past 1 year. This brought an end to the first part of the program.
The second half of the day was of importance and relevance to PIF’s mission, ‘e- education for all’. A symposium on ‘Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges and Opportunities’ was the part all were waiting for. Mr. Achyut Godbole, the first speaker spoke of the importance of IT and how we can and must spread information through its already adopted means like media etc. He said that one needs to go down to the crux of the IT related questions that people in the communities may have.
The 2nd sensational speaker, Dr. Madhav Chavan, spoke of how IT can be used to reach out to the masses in terms of expanding their knowledge base thus widening their horizons or just merely creating a sense of awareness about various basic information. He spoke of how simple it is and how everyone can be part of this. His were inspirational words spiced with humor, which kept the listeners alive in thought.
The day came to an end with Mr. Prem Yadav thanking The Beehive team and all the others who have been a family since the past year like ‘Bees in the Pune Beehive’.
The 11th of February, 2012 was a day of striking importance to PIF in Pune. The Pune Beehive, a community portal, a product of the constructive partnership of Pratham InfoTech Foundation and One Global Economy was officially launched. Also, a symposium on ‘Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges and Opportunities’ was held with two renowned guests speakers Dr. Madhav Chavan and Mr. Achyut Godbole.