Logging on

Kataria,who has polio,grew up in Choma but later studied in Delhi. “There were not many opportunities in my village to study further. But I had relatives in Delhi,so I came here and completed class X and XII. After that,I did my graduation from Delhi University and returned to my village in 2006,” he says.

Back at Choma,he saw that it was still lagging behind in matters relating to computer education and application.

“I had an interest in computers and the first thing that came to my mind was that most of the people here are farmers who have land and money,but are ignorant about how technology can be used. Even the government schools in the vicinity didn’t teach computers. I thought this was one gap that I could try and fill,” he says.

But his first attempt wasn’t successful. When Kataria approached the District Education Officer in Choma,he hardly gave him two minutes and rejected his proposal to impart computer literacy in the school from where he had studied.

“This incident,strengthened my resolve to do something. I felt that I just can’t depend on some one else,I have to think of something myself. We had a house in Choma,which was vacant,so I thought it could house an institute,” he says.

In the year that he began,Kataria’s plan was to get about 100 students,but the outcome was far better than what he anticipated. He got about 119 students in the first six months. The Academy teaches students in batches of 6-7 and there are as many as 150 students now. There are about six teachers,including Kataria,and except one,all of them have been trained by Kataria. “There is only one person from outside who teaches web designing,“ he says.

The institute charges the students for a sixty-hour basic course but the students can stretch their course till six months.

A major turning point in Kataria’s life came in 2008 when he won the Youth Employment Service (YES),a business plan competition. “It was a great moment for me,there were people from IITs and other prestigious institutes,and still I won. It instilled confidence in me. I won Rs 80,000 in that,which I used to upgrade the infrastructure of my academy.” The courses offered at the academy are basic computing,graphic designing,web designing,accounting etc. “Students who are not that financially stable but have a desire to learn are taught for free,” he says.

“For me,it is not about making profit,I just have a desire to impart knowledge,and when my students pass out from here and get jobs,or work successfully as teachers,it gives me a lot of happiness and that I think is my real profit,” says Kataria.

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