June, 2026
Editor's Note
Across the stories in this issue, we see how access to technology becomes meaningful only when it is accompanied by trust, awareness, and sustained community support. Whether it is a child receiving life-saving healthcare after an Aadhaar-related barrier is resolved, a young woman finding her voice as a digital trainer, tea garden communities taking their first steps Read more
Digital Op-Ed
As India accelerates its ambition to become a global AI hub, this article explores the often-overlooked realities behind the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. It examines how the growing demand for data centres—driven by artificial intelligence—requires vast amounts of land, water, and electricity, raising important questions about environmental sustainability, resource allocation, and the impact on local communities. Drawing on research from Telangana and other emerging AI infrastructure sites, the article highlights how large-scale investments and policy incentives often overlook the concerns of people whose livelihoods and access to natural resources are directly affected.
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Stories from the Ground
Access and Infrastructure
When a Thalassemia diagnosis met an Aadhaar error, a family from Umri turned to Samriddhi Kendra — and found a team willing to go all the way to the district health office to fix it. Samriddhi Kendra, Umri Village, Guna District, Madhya Pradesh For Ramesh and Sunita (names changed), a family of four from Umri village, a routine entitlement had quietly become a monthly financial burden. Their 4-year-old son Arjun has suffered from Thalassemia Read more
Education and Empowerment
“A young Soochnapreneur who once struggled to speak in a group is now the woman 233 households in her village turn to first. Meera Solanki grew up quiet. As a child and into her early twenties, she found it hard to stand in a group, harder still to hold a conversation with people outside her immediate circle. It wasn't a lack of ability — it was a lack of a stage, and a lack of belief that she had something worth saying. That changed when she encountered the Digital Empowerment Foundation's community. Read more
Market & Social Enterprises
A celebration of the Santhal rebellion's legacy became a stage for a quieter kind of courage — tribal women stepping forward as businesswomen in front of their own community. Hul Utsav commemorates one of India's earliest and most significant tribal uprisings — the Santhal rebellion of 1855, led by the Murmu siblings Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, Bhairav, Phulo, and Jhano. This year's tribute at Panchsowa Village, supported by the Ministry Read more
Governance and Citizen Services
Access to digital healthcare information and government health services continues to be a significant challenge in many rural tea garden communities, where limited digital awareness often prevents people from benefiting from public health initiatives. Recognizing this gap, Soochnapreneur Sangita Tanti organized a Digital Awareness Camp at her SoochnaPreneur Centre in Rangajan Tea Estate, Golaghat district, Assam, to help community members. Read more
Research and Advocacy
At a webinar convened by UNICEF, DEF, and Population Council Consulting, experts asked a hard question: can artificial intelligence serve women’s nutrition without leaving the most marginalised even further behind? As part of ACTION — the Asia Collective on Women’s Nutrition, a coalition of more than 20 organisations working across the region on women’s health and food access, Digital Empowerment Foundation joined UNICEF and Population Council Read more
People or Profit? DEF Takes the AI Data Centre Debate to DRAPAC 2026
At the Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly, DEF moderated a hard look at what the AI infrastructure boom is actually costing communities across the region and who gets to decide. DRAPAC 2026 | Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly Digital Empowerment Foundation took part in a range of sessions, workshops, and discussions at DRAPAC 2026 on some of the most pressing issues shaping today's digital landscape. Among these, DEF hosted its own session — 'People or Profit? The True Cost of AI Data Centres in the Asia-Pacific' — moderated by Maitri Singh of DEF, with panellists Osama Manzar (DEF), Mavic Conde (BicolDotPH), and Pavitra Ramanujam (Association for Progressive Communications).
Decoding the Digital Evolution Pre vs Post COVID
In the final episode of EDGE: 30 Years of the Internet, Osama Manzar reflects on how the last decade transformed India’s digital landscape, from WhatsApp-driven rural connectivity and COVID-19’s forced digitization to misinformation, platform economies, AI, and the growing risk of people becoming mere data points. Through stories from grassroots communities, this episode explores the balance between digital empowerment and human agency, while reimagining a more inclusive digital future through initiatives like the Museum of Digital Society (MODS).
