NOAKHALI, – The Charbata Union Digital Centre (UDC) under Subornachar upazila in Noakhali district appeared as a “lighthouse” for the people of the coastal union as
the centre has brought rapid changes in their life and livelihood since its establishment by providing various services to them.

Not only Charbata union, also the people from the surrounding areas are coming to the centre every day for taking different services, including job advertisements, admissions information, submitting online applications, scanning photos, getting passport forms, and even booking air tickets.

“The people of the area are considering the UDC as a ‘lighthouse’ as a radical change took place in their life and livelihood since its journey one decade ago,” said Jobayer Islam, the entrepreneur of the centre.

Talking to BSS, Jobayer said massive employment opportunities were created for the people as they received necessary information and other services through the UDC.

Besides, the young generation is setting up a worldwide network by getting involved with information technology, he said, adding social networks are rapidly reaching out to young people in remote areas.

Jobayer said the government has achieved at least 80 percent success to attain goals and objectives of the UDC.

He said that the people of the area used to travel 35 kms (in some cases 50 kms) to reach the district headquarters for taking government services, but now they get it easily sitting here.

“Many people come to UDC for air tickets. Farmers come for information on agriculture. Students come for admission and also to apply for the BCS exams. But in many cases, no service charge is taken,” he added.

Jobayer said the internet is constantly making life easier for the common people in rural areas and at the same time, the income of entrepreneurs is increasing day by day.

Recalling the background of the establishment of the UDC on September 22, 2010, he said, “I had a little computer business experience at the local level. One day the secretary of Charbata Union Parishad offered me to run the UDC.”

Jobayer said he started working here while keeping his own business running. “It didn’t take long … I quit my previous business after getting good response from the UDC after just one month of hard work. My income from the centre is rising day by day,” he said.

Seeing the success of UDC’s work, Jobayer said he was approached by a2i (Access to Innovate) under the Cabinet Division and the ICT Division of the government to apply for inclusion the centre in the Technical Board. “Once applied, the board inspected the UDC and approved it,” he said.

After getting approval by the Technical Board, the UDC started three and six months training with two programmes called ‘Office Application’ and ‘Database’. “At this time I needed some money to buy a computer,” he said.

Accordingly, Jobayer said, he took Taka 70,000 loan from an NGO and invested Taka 2,40,000 to set up a training center with the UDC.

The students who receive training from the centre are doing satisfactory results in the examination, he said, adding it has created a number of entrepreneurs in different fields.

Jobayer Islam and Salma Khanam are the entrepreneurs and Rasheda Akhter Suraiya and Biswajit Chandra Das are the alternative entrepreneurs of th UDC. They are earning Taka 10 to 15 thousand on an average per month.

Charbata UDC has won several awards in recognition of its work. Jobayer was selected as the best entrepreneur at the divisional level in 2011.

In the same year, he also got the best entrepreneur award at the upazila and district levels. The young entrepreneur received an award from the Technical Board in 2012 for his good results in the six-month training.

Jobayer said the main problems in his centre are electricity, slow internet and space crisis. As the Charbata Union Parishad does not have its own building, UDC is working at a building in Khaserhat Bazar of the union.

Pointing out his long-term plan to continue work on these issues, he said, “I’ve a plan to remove the unemployment of 500 children if I get a good network.”

Jobayer said when the space crisis at the UDC will over, he will provide computer training to the primary school students. “I’ve also a plan to set up a cyber cafe to further expand internet access,” he said.

The young entrepreneur said the picture of the coastal area has changed rapidly thanks to th establishment of the centre. With the help of the training and UDC, the use of internet and smart phones has become easy.

A beneficiary who received service from the centre told this correspondent that in the past, he could not inform the law enforcement agencies about the crimes of the pirates in the area.

“I went to the UDC and lodged a complaint with the authorities concerned about the pirates through email. Accordingly, they took effective measures after receiving the complaint…the crimes of the robbers have almost stopped,” he added.