Santosh Choubey

About Santosh Choubey

Santosh Choubey, an engineer by qualification and a changemaker by conviction, gave up a promising career first in Indian Engineering Services and then in Indian Civil Services to walk a far more uncertain path — one that led him into the underserved hinterlands of the country. In 1985, he founded AISECT (All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology first called Society for Electronics and Computer Technology) with a bold mission: to bridge the digital and knowledge divide between India’s cities and its villages. At a time when technology was still alien to most rural communities, Choubey believed that true national progress could only be achieved if opportunity, education, and digital empowerment reached the last mile.

Instead of building elite institutions in cities, Santosh chose to create a grassroots movement that empowered local micro-entrepreneurs to establish IT-enabled multi-purpose community centres. These centres didn’t just offer digital literacy and vocational training — they brought access, dignity, and employment to thousands of villages. Through his pioneering model of social entrepreneurship, he created a network that continues to foster self-reliance and inclusion across India's most remote and underserved geographies.

What made AISECT unique under Choubey’s leadership was its deep localization—India’s first IT curriculum in Hindi and other regional languages was developed by AISECT, dismantling one of the largest barriers to rural digital inclusion. The impact was transformative: villagers began to view technology not with fear, but with familiarity and hope.

Recognizing that education must go beyond literacy and skill-building to ensure long-term upliftment, Choubey also set up higher education institutions and universities tailored for rural India. These universities integrate vocational skills with academic degrees, empowering graduates to be employment-ready and socially conscious. Long before the National Education Policy 2020 emphasized this approach, Santosh Choubey was already making it a reality.

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Today, AISECT has grown into India’s largest social enterprise network with over 58,000 skilling/ services/ financial inclusion/ information gateway centres across 28 states and 6 Union Territories, covering over 655 districts, 3,200 blocks, and 11,000 panchayats. His initiatives have trained over 6 million youth, generated employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for several individuals, and positively impacted over 6 million lives through education, skill development, financial inclusion, and e-governance services.

Choubey’s mission is grounded in compassion and social justice. He has extended AISECT’s reach into red extremism-affected, tribal, and border areas, ensuring that no region is left behind in India’s development story. Under his guidance, AISECT has also established research centres in renewable energy, agriculture, water management, IT, women entrepreneurship, and tribal arts — promoting innovation rooted in inclusivity. aisect.org

Yet, his impact goes beyond education and economics. A celebrated Hindi author and poet, Santosh Choubey has authored over 70 literary works, including novels, poetry, and essays, and more than 100 books and papers on science and technology. His literary sensibility deepens his empathy for India’s diverse cultural and linguistic communities.

In 2019, he founded "VishwaRang," a global literary and arts festival that celebrates India’s multilingual and multicultural heritage. The 6th edition of VishwaRang was held in Mauritius in 2024 in collaboration with the World Hindi Secretariat, with participation from over 300 delegates and representatives from 21 countries across five continents. It has become a platform for India’s creative voices to reach the world. At the grassroots level he has set up over 100 multicultural centres called Vanmali Srijan Kendra to foster literature and arts at local level.

Choubey’s life is a rare blend of visionary entrepreneurship, academic leadership, artistic expression, and grassroots action. A senior Ashoka Fellow, his model has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and recognized by UNDP as a benchmark in inclusive development.

For four decades, Santosh Choubey has quietly built an India where every village has access to technology, every child has the right to learn, and every citizen has the dignity of opportunity. In an era driven by speed and visibility, his work remains a testimony to patient nation-building, where change is deep, inclusive, and sustainable.

He did not just imagine a better India — he went out and built it.

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