ICICI Bank’s Adopted Akodara Village becomes India’s first Digital Village

ICICI Bank’s Adopted Akodara Village becomes India’s first Digital Village,  A tiny village Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat has become the first Digital Village in India. The village, located 90 km from Ahmedabad, was adopted by the ICICI Bank under Digital Village project in 2015 that developed it as a digitized village with a rural branch of the bank.India’s First Digital Village. The campaign was

committed to connect rural India with high speed internet networks, create a digital infrastructure, and improve digital literacy in the country.

iv. The project was launched in January 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar to mark 60-year-celebration of the ICICI group’s existence.

v. All 250 households in village and 1,191 populations have savings account in local ICICI Bank branch.

vi. The bank has provided training to villagers to use digital technology to reduce dependence on cash. The villagers’ most important transactions selling agri-produce at the local market or mandi or selling milk at the co-operative society have been made cashless.

vii. The banks also launched other initiatives, like school automation, WiFi connectivity, a village website, a digital screen for commodity prices at the bank branch and skills development workshops for women to learn tailoring and office administration free of cost.

vii. The village has its own website: http://akodara-digitalvillage.in

viii. There’s a community-owned reverse osmosis-based water treatment plant and a WiFi tower for internet connectivity to those who want to subscribe to the service and three micro ATMs — at the gram panchayat, the village-level cooperative society and RO plant.