Digital Injot — Digital Empowerment of Tea Tribe & Adivasi Communities in Assam
Bringing digital access, skills, and economic opportunity to the tea gardens of Upper, Central, and Lower Assam — and the BTR region.
Overview
Turning digital exclusion into digital opportunity — from within the tea garden
The Tea Tribe and Adivasi communities make up roughly 20% of Assam's population and drive more than half of India's tea production — yet they remain among the most digitally excluded groups in the country. Remote tea estate settlements receive minimal telecom investment, leaving youth without adequate network access, hardware, or digital literacy as public services aggressively move online.
To address this, CSDD — in collaboration with the Digital Society Foundation (DSF) and North East Development Foundation — launched Project Digital Injot. "Injot" means Light in Sadri, the lingua franca of these communities. The project builds physical Community Digital Centres, trains local youth as Digipreneurs, and runs a curriculum focused on practical digital survival skills: mobile banking, UPI, online safety, and government scheme access.
Key Numbers
Impact
Reshaping everyday life — not just screen access
Before this project, verifying a government subsidy or checking a ration card meant a tea garden worker losing a full day's wage to travel to district headquarters. CSDD's Centres, positioned within settlement limits, let households access entitlements without middlemen and without losing income.
For youth, certified digital training opens formal data-entry roles, retail management, and off-garden administrative jobs — breaking the generational cycle of being funneled exclusively into manual estate labour. Women and elder workers gain access to formal savings accounts and insurance, reducing dependence on high-interest informal moneylenders.
"Digital inclusion is the light that turns isolated tea gardens into connected, self-determined communities."