Kamal Ghorui
PUNE: Asmita NXT, Rotary Bibwewadi’s global grant project supported by the HG Foundation and Serrala has helped 20 girls from the economically weaker section to get a job at top notch companies. These girls selected under the Asmita NXT project have undergone a 6 months training in AI at PICT. Some of the these girls shared their experiences at Asmita Symposium, a special program organized by Rotary Bibwewadi at JW Marriott recently.Six months ago, Rotary Bibwewadi launched a unique initiative called ‘Asmita NXT’ to enable girls from economically weaker sections of the society to pursue education in Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the first phase, 20 girls were selected for this course. Out of these, Shravani Raut, Tejal Raut, Dnyaneshwari Mhaisane, Nikita Kudale, Prajakta Sidankar, Madhumita Jadhav and Pratiksha Kothari who have got jobs expressed their feelings at the Asmita Symposium program.Asmita NXT’ has been started by Rotary Bibwewadi to empower girls from economically weaker sections of the society in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Girls whose families have an annual income of less than rupees right lakhs, girls who are unable to pursue advanced education in a subject due to the circumstances, girls who do not have skill-based education for industry and due to lack of it, they are not getting the desired job opportunities, such girls were chosen for this course on the basis of a selection test.These girls were given free advanced laptops and free training in AI and machine learning at PICT, the well known computer education institute in Pune. Subsequent to this training, they were also given the hands-on experience in various companies. After completing the course, most of these 20 girls got job opportunities in renowned companies like Serrala, Cap Gemini, Voice Vera, UST Bengaluru. These trained girls have received annual pay package ranging of Rs.5 Lakhs to 8 Lakhs.Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT) is the Academic Partner for this Initiative and has designed this six months training module specially for this initiative.Girls while sharing their experiences said that while studying the AI course, they got to learn a lot of new things, which has changed their lives. The training has brought in a sea change in their personality.Stating that AI has become an essential part of life these days, PICT Associate Professor Geetanjali Kale said that this course was prepared for girls from economically weaker sections of the society and was implemented properly. The girls also completed it with determination and got good results from it. Kale also mentioned that AI has become an essential part of our lives considering the future.Photo caption – Girls sharing their experiences about the Asmita NXT initiative, in the photo from left Tejal Raut, Nikita Kudale, Madhumita Jadhav, Shrawani Raut, Pratiksha Kothari and Prajakta Sidankar.
