In villages around Amritsar, we noticed how quickly daily life had shifted to screens. Electricity bills, grain mandi procurement tokens, and state pensions all required apps or biometric verification. For people who had never used a smartphone, this sudden shift felt overwhelming.
Local cyber cafes were charging up to ₹300 just to check an account or print a government slip. Scam calls pretending to be bank managers or electricity officials were targeting retired people on pensions. At the same time, younger students had smartphones for social media but knew very little about online privacy or study resources.
In early 2023, a few educators, programmers, and college volunteers held our first weekend session in a community hall in Majitha. Seeing how much relief a single morning of clear explanation brought, we decided to keep going.
As our coordinators spent more time in rural schools and colleges, it became clear that challenges in Punjab run deeper than screens. Young people face serious community pressures, including substance abuse and limited recreational avenues. We expanded our mission to organize grassroots social campaigns — partnering with local institutions on Nasha Mukt Yuva Abhiyan awareness drives and youth sports activities that foster discipline, health, and civic pride.