Extolling
e-governance
Sensitive
internalisation of information and communication technologies is intrinsic
for Indian agriculture. Sukhpal Singh elaborates on the initiatives
popularised by the Government
In
the context of the global economy and competitive markets, developments
in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as satellite
television broadcasting, radio, long-distance telephones, computers,
Internet and telecommunications have sparked optimism about their
potential to accelerate the pace of social and economic development
in developing countries.
ICTs
can be harnessed to meet basic human needs of the poor and marginalised
communities in rural and remote areas, and to create new structures
for governance and commerce in India. However, diffusion of ICTs in
rural areas is hampered by the lack of infrastructural development.
Nonetheless, some efforts have been made in the recent years to take
Internet to the rural communities.
These
include e-governance projects like the Gyandoot of the Government
of Madhya Pradesh in Dhar (a tribal district), the Warna wired villages
project in Kohlapur district of Maharashtra (Rajora, 2001), Village
Knowledge Centres (VKC) of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation
(MSSRF) in Pondicherry, The Friends and the IT@School projects in
Kerala, and the TARAkendras of the Development Alternatives (an NGO)
in Bathinda (Punjab) (Sreekumar, 2003).
THE
GYANDOOT PROJECT
| ICTS CAN
BE HARNESSED TO MEET BASIC HUMAN NEEDS OF THE POOR AND MARGINALISED
COMMUNITIES IN RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS, AND TO CREATE NEW STRUCTURES
FOR GOVERNANCE AND COMMERCE IN INDIA |
The
Gyandoot Project involved, to begin with, setting up of 26 soochnalayas
(information centres) at the village level by the government, in collaboration
with local bodies, which provide farmers information on agricultural
produce prices, land records and other agricultural issues. These
ICT kiosks are operated by the unemployed rural youth (Soochaks) who
are selected and trained to run these centres.
A
committee called Gyandoot Samiti registered under the MP Societies
Registration Act manages it and the District Collector is President
of the same.
The
Sarpanch of the District Panchayat functions as the Secretary of the
Committee and various departmental heads are members of the committee.
It has a project manager, an assistant project officer, a technical
head and a few computer operators. The soochanalayas are established
at the grampanchayat buildings at block headquarters or at prominent
haat bazaars.
| THE GYANDOOT
PROJECT INVOLVED THE SETTING UP OF 26 SOOCHNALAYAS AT THE VILLAGE
LEVEL BY THE GOVERNMENT, IN COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL BODIES, WHICH
PROVIDE FARMERS WITH CRITICAL AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION |
Each
soochanalaya caters to 15 grampanchayats and 25-30 villages. On the
whole, the project benefits about half a million people living in
311-grampanchayats and 600 villages. The Soochak is generally a local
matriculate and selected by the grampanchayat and the district panchayat.
He runs the soochanalaya at his own cost and earns his own living.
He does not get any salary and bears the cost of stationery, maintenance
and electric and telephone bills of the soochanalaya. He pays 10 per
cent of the income as commission of the district panchayat for maintaining
the net.
A
soochak is expected to earn an income of Rs 2,500 per month. The cost
of setting up a soochanalaya is approximately around Rs 75,000 and
all the money comes from the panchayat funds with no cost to the government
exchequer. Some of the soochaks have also been given the power of
petition writing and stamp vending (Rajora, 2001). In fact, a programme
called Gramhaat is being used to facilitate buying and selling of
produce and animals within the villages connected through the intranet.
The
project was awarded the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2001. The soochanalayas
caters to the ICT requirements of a wide section of the rural community
as part of a social engineering and development initiative and has
marked a major shift in the way government functionaries relate to
the needs of the rural poor. (Sreekumar, 2003).
VICS
OF MSSRF MSSRF
Village
Knowledge Centres (VKC) launched in 1998 aim to provide sustainable
food security in rural areas of Pondicherry (See story on page 19).
The centres were originally designed to provide information and technical
assistance to farmers through packages prepared locally, making use
of both
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