C-DAC, Hyderabad, a scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Reliance Foundation have launched e-SafeHER, a cyber security awareness training programme to enable one million (one mn) women in rural India to participate safely and confidently in the digital ecosystem. The initiative is anchored under the ministry's Information Security Education and Awareness programme and will combine national curriculum and technical content with community-led dissemination. The programme aims to build a gender-responsive model that strengthens last mile awareness as more rural women engage with digital platforms for financial transactions, livelihoods and access to services.

C-DAC will lead development, localisation and continuous enhancement of multilingual training content while Reliance Foundation will leverage its grassroots presence and women’s self-help groups for peer-led delivery. The model will train Cyber Sakhis, community peer trainers who will cascade learning through blended audio-visual modules and local facilitation. A phased rollout will begin with training across Madhya Pradesh and Odisha and will scale to one mn by 2029 through multi-stakeholder partnerships and integration with existing empowerment and digital literacy programmes.

The programme is designed for scale and sustainability by embedding cybersecurity awareness into current community initiatives rather than creating parallel infrastructure. Localised materials and blended learning approaches are expected to improve accessibility and engagement and to drive measurable behavioural outcomes. These outcomes include improved cyber risk awareness, greater confidence in conducting digital transactions and adoption of safer online practices by participants.

The collaboration combines the ministry's national cybersecurity framework, C-DAC's technical expertise and Reliance Foundation's community-driven delivery approach to ensure durable impact. Implementation insights will contribute to evidence-based scale-up and policy integration across the country. Stakeholders anticipate that the peer-led model will enable women in remote areas to become digitally secure and empowered.