Information and Communications Technologies - An Agent of Social Change for Rural Women in Odisha

Domestic responsibilities, cultural restrictions on mobility, lesser economic power as well as lack of relevance of content to their lives, marginalize women from the information sector. The present paper focuses on key questions and concerns on the use and accessibility of ICT and the potential that it possesses to transform the position of women in the Indian society, more specifically in Odisha. The questions range from who are the ‘real’ beneficiaries of ICT? Who is monopolizing the course of ICT? Is there an opportunity (or possibility) to bind ICT to dole out bigger and definitely significant goals of equality and justice? More importantly, the prime concern that this paper raises is the issue of gender and women’s equal right to access, use and shape ICT.