A New Tech- Savvy Rural India of Tomorrow
Posted : April 20, 2006 at 12:27 pm [IST]
Every time I talk with my cousin brother in my remote Bihar village, I ask him to buy a computer with Internet connection. If not by any other means, he can be accessible through Reliance cellular phone. And some essentials such as the photographs of Shannon and Anand can be passed on to him easily. My only surviving aunty and uncle could see that and feel happy. Unfortunately, he is not so enthusiastic as I am. But the stories of what are happening in length and breadth of India makes me happy. There is a hope that one day the whole of the country will get connected. The barriers will break and the world will then be really flat for even a common man of the country.
Farmers in a remote village 600 km away from Bangalore are using ATM machines to open a bank account. An ATM machine loaded on a van moves through the five villages offering 22000-odd farmers a bank’s services - they can open an account, request for a loan and be able to deposit as well as withdraw cash at will.
The ATM machine is linked wirelessly through Reliance Infocomm’s network to the backend server of the participating bank, which includes Syndicate Bank and State Bank of India. S S Satchidananda, professor in Indian Institute of Information Technology has piloted the project with funds from a consortium lead by Microsoft. It is “a cost saving solution for banks that are seeking to expand their rural reach but have no other choice but to set up a branch which is expensive and unviable”.
Microsoft has an ambitious target to set up over 50000 broadband connected kiosks across villages covering over 50 per cent of the rural population in the next three years under the “Saksham” scheme. The company is funding NGOs as well as local companies to make the project a reality.
Intel has also recently joined the move announcing a new program “Jagruti”. Intel has developed a rugged chassis to withstand dusty and extreme temperatures. It has also integrated a UPS as well as an AC\DC converter in the machine so that it can work on a car battery for six to eight hours, to tackle the lack of electricity in many villages. Intel has also tied up with Microsoft in an “affordability alliance” to provide solutions for rural India.
The ministry of Information Technology has set up an ambitious target with Rs 100 crore to set up one lakh “common services centres” across villages where e-governance services will be available by August 2007. It has tied up with ILFS to manage the rollout with support from NGOs, ISPs and others. It is all under Mission 2007.
Jai Kisan is another NGO set up to introduce rural IT technology in Uttaranchal. It hopes to put up over 3000 Kisan Soochna Kendras (a digital hub) across the state.
ITC is creating a physical infrastructure to support the 6,000 e choupals - which are run by entrepreneurship-driven sanchalaks (organisers). In its next move, ITC is now appointing up-sanchalaks (deputy organisers) in over 14000 villages (already appointed 15000) that would directly interact with the e-choupal owners. Also it is planning to set up over 50-choupal sagars, which will have hypermarkets, fuel stations, restaurants and even an educational service centre.
Chennai-based n-Logue Communications - part of the Telnet group, floated by professors in IIT Chennai, wants to replicate the PCO model to increase per capita incomes in rural India. It has already rolled out over 2500 kiosks across the country using C-ordect technology (wireless and local loop) to provide broadband connectivity to the villages.
Ashok Jhunjhunwala, the man behind the mission says: “We can double the rural per capita GDP through IT. We want to set up a kiosk within 500 metres of everyone’s home”.
Bridging the “digital divide” might not be as easy as it sounds. However, companies are taking the first steps to work out viable and scaleable models to make it a reality.
Things are looking bright. I know the use of Internet may not be as fast as the cellular phone. The reason will not be the price constraint; rather it will be its utility. Besides, railway ticket reservation and matrimonial, many other necessary services must be possible through Internet.
And to make the spread faster, why can’t the government and other agencies join ITC’s programme and realize the dream of computerized connectivity and communication reaching every village by 2009, if not earlier?
- Indra
Category: Rural development |
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