India
Mr. Vivek Sawant
Chief Mentor, Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL)
🏛️ Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL), Pune, India
Quick Overview
"In a gentle way, you can shake the world."
— Mahatma Gandhi"Digital Empowerment & Nai Talim: Gandhi's Educational Vision in the Age of Technology"
Presentation Overview & Abstract
Shri Vivek Sawant explores how Mahatma Gandhi's vision of Nai Talim — education rooted in productive work and community service — resonates powerfully with the digital empowerment mission of MKCL. He discusses how computer literacy, e-governance, AI-powered skill development, and constructivist pedagogy can transform rural India and bridge the digital divide in the Gandhian spirit.
About Mr. Vivek Sawant
Shri Vivek Sawant is the Chief Mentor of Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL), established in 2001 by the Government of Maharashtra to bridge the digital divide. He served as Managing Director for 18 consecutive years until 2019.
Through MKCL, Shri Sawant launched a statewide campaign promoting computer literacy, establishing a network of over 5,000 authorized learning centers with more than 75,000 computers and a team of 25,000 computer trainers. These centers offer the government-recognized MS-CIT computer literacy course, successfully completed by over 20 million (2 crore) learners in the last 23 years.
Before MKCL, Shri Sawant worked at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) from 1988 to 2000. He played a pivotal role in developing India's first indigenous supercomputer, Param, following the U.S. embargo on supercomputing technology. He also founded the Advanced Computing Training School (ACTS) at C-DAC, which trained 25,000 engineers in advanced computing, many of whom now lead global IT firms.
From 1979 to 1987, Shri Sawant taught Physics, Electronics, and Computer Science at Ferguson College, Pune. He served on several expert committees of central and state governments, co-authored the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana as a member of the PM's IT Task Force in 2000, and led expansion of MKCL's programs to Rajasthan, Odisha, Haryana, Bihar, Kerala, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and 180 other countries.
His focus areas include computer literacy, e-learning, e-governance, scientific early childhood education, knowledge-based societal development, AI-powered skill development for green and digital careers, and higher education based on Mahatma Gandhi's Nai Talim. He has received numerous prestigious awards including the Yashwantrao Chavan National Award, Rotary International Lifetime Achievement Award, and VASVIC Award for R&D.