Press 1 For Digital Divide: Inside Rajasthan's Free Smartphone Scheme for Women

Rajasthan's free smartphone scheme for women aims to bridge the gender digital divide but challenges persist.

Announced on the heels of the 2023 state Assembly elections, in the first phase of the Indira Gandhi Free Smartphone Yojana, the Rajasthan government distributed 40 lakh smartphones loaded with free unlimited calls for nine months and 2 GB of mobile data.

(Illustration: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Fifty five-year-old Ranaki Bai never owned a smartphone, neither did she intend to own one until Ashok Gehlot, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, rolled out the Indira Gandhi Free Smartphone Yojana — a public welfare scheme aimed at distributing smartphones, free of cost, to women from low income families in the state.

Announced on the heels of the 2023 state Assembly elections, in the scheme’s first phase, the state government distributed 40 lakh smartphones loaded with free unlimited calls for nine months and 2 GB of mobile data.

Preference was given to beneficiaries belonging to three categories: 

• Girl students

• Those who receive pensions for widows

• Women heads of families who have completed 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme

Ranaki Bai's Long Wait

Ranaki, a widow, walked 8 km and stood in line thrice when municipality workers organised distribution drives in south Rajasthan's Kotra village, only to return home empty handed each time.

480 km from the state capital of Jaipur, Kotra is a tribal-dominant village with approximately 92 percent of its population belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

"I don't know how to use a phone...but I stood in line along with my son because we were told that the phone will make it easier for me to get my pension. Once the phone comes, there will be no need to visit the bank every month," Ranaki said, referring to a monthly amount of Rs 1,500 she gets as widow pension, hopeful of getting the phone in the next round of the distribution drive.

Hela Ram, Ranaki's 23-year-old son, knew that the next round his mother was waiting for was not coming anytime soon.

"Ab jo hoga, chunaav ke baad hi hoga. Aur agar dusri party ki sarkar aayi to ye yojana bhi dabbe mein jaayegi (Now whatever has to happen will happen post the elections, and if the government changes, this scheme will be shelved for at least five years)," he said softly, perhaps to avoid crushing Ranaki's hopes.

The Gender Digital Divide

As per a 2018 study conducted by US-based Harvard Kennedy School, only 38 percent women in India own mobile phones as compared to 71 percent men. In Rajasthan, a state with a population of over 6.85 crore people, the gap is more pronounced with 70-80 percent men owning a mobile phone as compared to 10-20 percent women.

This is the story of several such Ranakis who fell through the cracks in the system as the promise of a free smartphone lit a million hopes ahead of elections in India's largest state.

A Search for Network

On a hot October afternoon The Quint met Rekha Kumari, Kali Kumari, and Amrita Kumari — all 13-year-old and students of class 9 enrolled in Kotra's village government school. 

The three friends recently received smartphones distributed by the Rajasthan state government.

As they sat together inside Rekha's house taking maths lessons on YouTube, all three had their smartphones in their hands but only Rekha's phone worked.

"The phones we received came with a Vodafone sim card. Except Jio, no other sim card has network in this area," explained Kali. "Whenever we want to use the phone, we walk till we find a spot with network, else we come to Rekha's house," she added.

Rekha's parents, both daily wage workers, changed the Vodafone sim card with a Jio sim card.

"Before I got this phone, I used to take my father's phone. During the pandemic, three of us siblings had only one phone to study...I used to get the phone for one hour at night, after I finished other household chores. My younger sister and brother use this phone too but now we have two phones in our house," Rekha said.

As per a report by the Ministry of Education, more than 20,000 schools were closed across the country between 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19 induced lockdown. Another study by think tank Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy stated that 43 percent children didn't have access to any schooling for upto 19 months (due to inaccessibility of digital modes of education or being enrolled in a school that did not offer digital education).

Kali and Amrita cited the example of Rekha's family and asked their parents to buy them a Jio sim card. "Initially they refused but we're still trying to convince them. We have a feeling we will get it soon," they told The Quint.

Misogyny 101

At 2 pm on 14 October, a group of men gathered near Ranaki's house were discussing upcoming state elections over tea. Ranaki's son Hela Ram joined them. While issues such as land rights, old age pension, and inflation dominated the conversation, 45-year-old Lalu Ram raised the issue of the smartphone scheme.

"What is the need to give phone to young girls?" he asked the group. "If they hadn't distributed phones to students, people like Ranaki Bai would've got the phone," Ram, who works as a farm labourer added. 

His real concern, however, was not Ranaki Bai and her inability to procure a phone. 

"Ladkiyon ko phone dekar kya faayeda hoga? Internet aur YouTube dekhkar choti bacchiyan bigad jaayengi. (What's the point of distributing phones to school-going girls? Internet and YouTube will spoil them)," he declared as he urged the men to keep a close watch on what their daughters are doing with their phones. 

The smartphones also a topic of discussion in Rekha, Kali, and Amrita's classroom. 

"The boys (in our class) tease us now. They ask us what is so special about us that we got the phones and they didn't," Rekha told The Quint.

This, however, isn't just a harmless banter among classmates. Adult men in Rajasthan also feel that the scheme shouldn't have been for women alone. "Why didn't men get the phones? Do they not need quick access to their pensions or other government schemes?" said Dharam Chand, another one of Ranaki Bai's neighbours present at the gathering. 

Voter Impact

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Rajasthan has 2.51 crore women voters — and both the Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are eyeing their votes. While the Congress, in addition to distributing free smartphones launched a slew of other welfare schemes targeted at women, the BJP launched the Mahila Pravasi Abhiyan, a women-centric campaign to ensure direct contact with women voters in the state.

The Quint spoke to beneficiaries of the Indira Gandhi Smartphone Yojana, who are eligible to vote, such as Ranaki Bai and several others. While Ranaki directed the conversation regarding her vote to her son Hela Ram, 80-year-old Mugali Bai, said, "I will vote for the person my son and daughter-in-law vote for."

Jeetendra Chaudhary, a Congress worker from Tonk assembly, said that the scheme might give more reasons to loyal Congress voters to vote for them but will not do anything to convert those "sitting on the fence" in the party's favour. 

"A loyal Congress voter will vote for the Congress, no matter what. Similarly, a loyal BJP supporter will vote for BJP. Schemes like these are used to lure those sitting on the fence. However, that can only be done by a party's karyakarta. And for reasons best known to the top leadership, distribution of these smartphones was fully done by the state machinery — bureaucrats, teachers, and health workers. Why will they walk the extra mile and try to connect a beneficiary with the Congress?" Chaudhary asked.