Impact of ICTs in Rural Areas (India) Phase II – Information Village Research Project
supported by
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Canada
implemented by
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) Terminal Report [2000-2004]
Introduction
As momentum builds up around the globe for debating and directing the future of ICTs in society,
a key concern that cannot be ignored is the fate of the world’s villages, especially in developing
countries, where most of the human population lives. What are some notable success stories on
this front? What has been their guiding vision and evolving infrastructure? How can these lessons
be captured, exchanged and multiplied?
This terminal report is an attempt to tell the story of the Rural Knowledge Centres [RKCs], its
human face, evolutionary path, future directions, trials and tribulations. It is a work in progress,
and will undoubtedly evolve as the story of this bold and inspiring human adventure unfolds. How
has ICT-blended development impacted the lives of the rural poor? Can such experiments
survive after seed donor funding has dried up? What knowledge assets can be created,
exchanged and leveraged by rural communities? Why are such knowledge-intensive experiments
so few in number around the world? How can policymakers and local community stakeholders
sustain this experiment? This terminal report attempts to address a wide range of these critical
issues.
Genesis
Technological divide has been an important factor in enlarging the rich-poor divide both among
and within nations since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. With explosive progress
in many areas of technology, like information, space, bio- and nano-technology, this divide is
increasing. The challenge now is to enlist technology as an ally in the movement for economic,
social and gender equity. Therefore, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation [MSSRF] chose the imparting of a pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to technology
i.exe
development and dissemination as its main mandate when it started functioning in Chennai in 1989.
The foundation launched a series of annual inter-disciplinary dialogues on ICT-enabled
development from 1990 onwards, titled “New Technologies: Reaching the Unreached”. The first
dialogue in this series was related to biotechnology. The recommendations made at this dialogue
resulted in the organisation of the Biovillages initiative.
MSSRF held an Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Information Technology: Reaching the Unreached [Annexure 1] in January 1992 with the support of International Development Research Centre [IDRC], United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], Department of Space, Govt. of India, International Tropical Timber Organisation [ITTO] and Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology [CAPART]. The dialogue output
made it clear the future of food security in the developing world especially South Asia is
dependent less on resource intensive agriculture and more on knowledge intensity. In the coming
years, agriculture will have to be developed as an effective instrument for creating more income,
jobs and food and such a paradigm of sustainable agriculture will be both knowledge and skill
intensive. The key step in the use of ICTs in sustainable agricultural and rural development is the
value addition made to generic information to render it locale specific. It is on the latter that the
rural families, particularly the marginal farmers and the assetless can act on to improve
productivity of labour and inputs. Biovillage Programme
It took a while before we could actually move forward to test our ideas on what intelligent and
innovative application of ICTs can do in rural development. We went through the route of testing
the impact modern biology could have on rural livelihood, largely thanks to the life-long interest of
Prof. M S Swaminathan in biology. We set up several ‘biovillages’ and worked closely with the
rural population in the villages of Pondicherry. On hindsight, we realize how valuable this
experience was. It is through the ‘biovillage’ project that the foundation staff and the rural
communities came to know each other well.
The biovillage programme [Annexure 2] helps the villagers use the available resources in a
sustainable way as an additional source of income by using biological tools. Some of the
biovillage activities are: Fish pond, mushroom cultivation, paper and board from banana waste,
rain water harvesting, cultivation of pulses, ornamental fish growing, using water from the
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fishpond as manure for the coconut, hybrid seed production, trichograma (biopesticide), fodder
and dairy. The main aim of these activities is to stop degradation of existing resource base.
From a Small Beginning
MSSRF – IDRC Information Village Research Project was designed as a test bed for research
into how information and communication technologies could be used in rural development.
This project was launched in January 1998 in the Union Territory of Pondicherry with the support
of IDRC, Canada, and the first phase came to a close in June 2000. The second phase of the
project commenced in February 2001 and came to a close in July 2004. The second phase
supported by both IDRC and CIDA. During the interim period, funds from the Ford Foundation
grant came in handy to sustain the project activities. We have also used Ford Foundation funds to
upgrade our communication technologies in some villages.
The entire project is based on community ownership of technological tools as distinct from
personal or family ownership and it encourages collective action for empowering communities.
Information needs assessment
Initially we have conducted two surveys: One is related to information linkages in the rural areas
and the other is on the reach of electronic media.
To get a clear picture of the state of existing communication habits and channels in the rural
areas, especially among the poorer households, we conducted detailed survey covering 10% of
the resident families in the proposed area of coverage in 1998. The predominant sources of
information are the local shopkeeper, the market place, and the input supplier. A very
considerable amount of information transaction takes place between the rural poor households
and this also acts as a primary source of information [Annexure 3].
From our earlier research in 11 villages, we found that reach of electronic media, especially
television, is reasonably high when one considers the prevalence of poverty in the villages
surveyed. They do not have even 1 phone per 500 people [Annexure 4].
We also collected information through surveys on district and village profiles, economic activity,
maps, information needs, education levels and institutes, healthcare, quality of life, information
disseminators (primary and secondary), infrastructure, local interaction patterns, problems of
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landless laborers, self help group market needs, traditional helath practicioner, artisans and small
merchants, and profiles of underprivileged communities [Annexure 5].
Hub and Spokes Model The Village Knowledge Centres are connected in a hub and spokes model with Villianur as the
hub [Annexure 6]. Our project staff operates this. Our field experience shows that community
ownership and participation are necessary conditions for success.
Setting up of these Village Knowledge Centres was preceded by large-scale consultation with the
local communities. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) [Annexure 7] was used as a method to
identify information needs of the community. PRA was also used to assess how far the
community was willing to go in operationalising the local centre, by way of making in-kind or
cash contributions. This was also used in the identification of a group of individuals who
would be consensually chosen by the community for managing the local centre. In each case,
the community provided an accessible rent-free building, electricity and volunteers, many of them
women. The project provided all the needed equipment and training and helped in collecting data.
The project pays NO money to the volunteers. The rural community has a sense of ownership.
The following rural knowledge centres are established during Phases I and II with the help of
IDRC, CIDA, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of Pondicherry and Volkart
Foundation with different models.
Location Establishment Year
Operated by Type of Village Situated in
Villianur 1998 Project Staff Block
Development
Head Quarters
Rented Building
Kizhur 1998 Private House
owner & Village
Voluntary
Organisation
Agricultural
Village
Private House
Embalam 1999 Women Self
Help Group
Agricultural and
Milk Production
Village
Public temple
room
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Veerampattinam 1999 Volunteers
selected by
traditional
panchayat
Fishermen’s
Village
Panchayat
[Village Council]
building
Poornangkuppam 1999 Temple Trust
and
Grampanchayat
Agricultural and
Horticultural
village
Public Temple
room
Pillayarkuppam 2000 Village
Volunteers
Biocentre (Hub of
the Biovillage
Programme set
up by M S
Swaminathan
Research
Foundation)
Own building of
M S
Swaminathan
Research
Foundation
Thirukanchipet 2000 Village
Volunteers
Agricultural
labourers village
Govt. TV Room
Kalitheerthalkuppam 2001 Village
Volunteers
Agricultural and
Milk Production
Village
Part of the
Noon Meal
programme
Room
Nallavadu 2001 Volunteers
selected by
traditional
panchayat
Fishermen’s
Village
Panchayat
Building
Periyakalapet 2003 Volunteers
selected by
traditional
panchayat
Fishermen’s
Village
Panchayat
building
Koonichampet 2003 Youth Socially
underprivileged
people –
Laborers
Community Hall
Moorthykuppam 2004 Volunteers
selected by
traditional
panchayat
Fishermen’s
Village
Panchayat
[Village Council]
building
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Three knowledge centres [not used in the table] were closed due to irregular operation hours,
discrimination against socially underprivileged people, noticeable damage to equipment and
attempts made to appropriate the centre’s property using political power.
The project was participatory right from day one. The relation between MSSRF and the
village community is one of partnership in progress, and not donor and recipient. The entire
village community – men and women, landed gentry and the landless, educated and the
illiterate – was consulted and involved. We adopted a policy of ‘inclusiveness.’
Connectivity
Initially, communication links for the RKC network were based on Motorola VHF Business Radios. The VHF design is based on two major components. The intelligent controller of two-
channel network, capable of interfacing with telephone line is full duplex operation. The controller
does the primary switching with EPABX/PSDN and diverts the call to the selective subscriber unit.
The controller with two Motorola GM300 base radio makes as a full duplex single channel
controller with the capability to connect two telephone inputs. It can store up to 4000 subscribers
ID for selective calling.
The subscriber unit is based on Motorola GM300 and GP300. With the combination of two units
of GM300 with the suitable interface board of ST869 in full duplex mode, we can add the
intelligent controller to the subscriber in full duplex mode. With the help of the interface board, we
can combine both Rx & Tx GM300 radio and convert as a loop line interface. This loop line can
be connected to the Exchange or to a simple telephone. The interface is capable of generating
ring voltage needed for the telephone instruments to generate the ring tone. The interface also
has an intelligent system to scan 15 channels.
The VHF technology is normally used for one-way communication, e.g. the walkie-talkie used by
police, army, security forces in large campuses, port authorities, railways, road constructors, etc.
This technology is different from telephones in that the two parties cannot speak at the same
time. Using GM300 and ST869 interface board we have enhanced VHF technology into two-way
communication.
Though the range for this wireless channel is up to 20 km across 360 degrees, the maximum
speed is only 4.8 Kbps and messages could be sent only sequentially.
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To overcome these disadvantages, particularly inability to transmit large volume of data, we
examined the possibility of using other technologies such as Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) combined with Wireless in the Local Loop and
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS). We also tested World Space Radio Satellite
communication. After several discussions with experts and analyzing topography maps, we chose
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum technology provided by UC Wireless Inc.
The VIP 110-24 is the building block of the UC Wireless proprietary “VINE” Network topology.
The VIP 110-24 is used to interconnect Ethernet LANs (Local Area Networks) and WANs (Wide
Area Networks) across large distances, creating a virtual single network. This unique network
topology can also be used to provide broadband Internet access by a Service Provider or to
interconnect multiple nodes in a private network.
The VINE technology allows a complete wireless network to start with as little as two radios, and
gradually grows, a node at a time, into a very large and complex wireless network. New nodes
can be added at any time with the sole requirement that they must have line of sight connectivity
to another node already on the VINE. The new node, once attached, becomes a potential
attaching point for other nodes.
The VIP 110-24 is a spread spectrum transceiver that implements the VINE protocol. The radio
includes a 10/100 Base T Ethernet port for connection to the Local Area Network (LAN). The
radios can be set to operate in either Bridge mode or Router mode. In bridge mode, any station
connected to the LAN can see any other station connected to all the other LANs at the remote
sites. No special configuration of the user stations is necessary, as each of them recognises that
there is just one Ethernet.
The VIP 110-24 is a spread spectrum radio operating in the “Industrial Scientific and Medical”
(ISM) band from 2.400 GHz to 2.4835 GHz. Spread Spectrum technology allows operation
without a license with an output power of up to 23 dBm at speeds up to 11 Mbps (mega-bits per
second).
Coverage distance is 22 km, and line speed is much higher with this technology (theoretically 11
Mbps), but the signal travels only point-to-point and not 360 degrees.
At present six centres viz., Veerampattinam, Periyakalapet, Koonichampet, Embalam, Nallavadu
and Kalitheerthalkuppam are connected with Villianur through Spread Spectrum. Thirukanchipet,
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Poornangkuppam, Kizhur and Pillayarkuppam are connected with Villianur through VHF duplex
radio.
Video conferencing facility is available in all the Spread Spectrum villages.
Two other technologies were also tested, viz., Internet Broadcasting System and Reporting Terminal Experiment with the support of Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.
Many of the databases related to Information Village Research Project are created in the
Informatics Division of MSSRF in Chennai. Smaller files are transferred from Chennai to
Pondicherry as email attachments. Larger files were transferred via CD initially; an experiment in
2001 with Internet broadcasting via the Space Application Centre did not work out due to
problems in Internet and satellite connectivity.
Fishermen for emergency communications also tried the hand-held Reporting Terminal, often
used for military applications, but there were problems with the heavy weight of the terminals,
one-way communication and short battery life.
Now the Veeranam drinking water project (State Government of Tamil Nadu drinking water
project) and Neyveli Lignite Corporation (Central Government Mine) have adopted VHF
technology after several discussions with our staff.
EID Parry (a Private Company) has adopted Spread Spectrum Technology.
Incidentally M/s V Link the company that helped us install these technologies in IVRP, is
employed by these institutions.
KU Band Satellite Based Internet Connectivity
Till 2001 the hub was getting Internet connection through three dial up accounts. Since 2002, we
have KU band satellite based Internet connectivity (64 kbps) to our hub at Villianur. This Internet
connection has been distributed through Spread Spectrum to six villages. But the Internet
connection is very slow.
We use these new technological tools in our effort to bridge the social and economic divide
between the haves and have-nots.
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Content
Creation and updating of relevant content to suit local needs is a key factor in the programme.
Prior to commencing content-building activity, extensive consultations were held with the
participating village communities through small group meetings. Based on the requirement of the
local community, we developed several databases [Annexure 8] to fulfill their requirements.
These are frequently updated. A considerable part of information is accessed from the local
sources.
As per the information assessment surveys, the content services were designed to be context-
sensitive, language-sensitive and time-sensitive, and ranged from agriculture and aquaculture to
animal health and meteorology.
In addition to basic information about agriculture, surveys indicated that rural communities would
also be interested in information services about government financial schemes for the poor,
healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, employment, food prices and education. Our attempts to use
ICTs to satisfy such information needs of the poor ensured that the RKCs would become the hub
of generating, archiving, exhanging and dissemination of locally relevant knowledge in the local
language. The RKC was also visualised as a source of information and learning about alternative
employment, and a breeding ground for new entrepreneurs and innovators.
A key focus was achievable and understandable outcomes: after all, for farmers, "harvesting is
believing." The information value adders were trained to ensure that the information products
were ideally suited for consumption by rural communities: for instance, by rephrasing complex
technical jargon into simpler terms. Conversely, some were also trained to convert research
inputs from villagers into more structured and validated forms for research organisations and
policymakers.
The value addition centre in Villianur generated a number of databases, to fulfill the specific
information needs of the local communities. The Intranet Web page includes the information on
local happenings, government schemes, government entitlements, agriculture techniques,
livestock information, health [both human and animal], questions and answers section, rural
yellow pages, recipes, employment news, events, audio clips related to agriculture, education,
market prices, rural technologies, weather including wave height alerts for fisher folk, Codex
Alimentarius information for different crops.
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The hub provides the market intelligence of various commodities, vegetables in the regulated
markets and also the stock availability of bio fertilizers, bio pesticides, and seeds in Pondicherry
Agro Service and Industrial Corportaion godowns. On day-to-day basis we provide the
information on price index on paddy, pulses, cereal and commercial crops – cotton, groundnut
etc., for three regulated markets – Thattanchavadi, Madagadipet and Kanniakoil.
RKC provided the interpreted weather information [http://www.accuweather.com,
http://edition.cnn.com/weather/asia, http://www.regionalmetrological.com], wave height
information [http://www.navo.navy.mil] and agro advisory bulletin [http://imdagrimet.org] to the
both farming and fishing community.
Department of Police has provided information on fundamental rights of women, consumer rights
and the marriage acts for Hindu, Muslim and Christians.
District Rural Development Agency disseminates / and provides the loan to Self Help Groups to
start the following low cost micro-enterprises through RKC.
Milch animal, Fish vending, Departmental store, Milk parlor, Repacking of grocery, Goat rearing,
Vadagam products, Floriculture, Tailoring, Passenger van, Floriculture, Horticulture, Mushroom
cultivation, Poultry, Vermi composting, Leather products, Handicrafts, Agarbathi & candles, Coir
rope making, Mat weaving, Food preservation, Restaurant/Tiffin centre, Soda/cold beverages/ice
cream manufacturing, Ice blocks, Printing & binding/stationeries, Mud block making/construction
activity, Information kiosk, Battery operated vehicles, Fish drying (solar dryer) and Renewable
energy works.
Based on Dalit [socially underprivileged people] community needs Adidravidar Development
Corporation Ltd., Pondicherry provides the information on loan cum subsidy and margin money
scheme, training scheme, schemes of National Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Finance
& Development Corporation and non-banking loan cum subsidy schemes to RKC.
Community Newspaper
Based on six years Rural Knowledge Centres experience we learnt to use the right technology to achieve specific goals. Horses for courses, as they say. We are handling a
mix of technologies and the mix has to be smart enough to meet our objectives. We also
need to train the local volunteers in their use. Thus we manage social mobilization on the one
hand and technology management on the other, and bring these two together to reap
maximum synergy. We have an open mind on technology. In the beginning we started with
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somewhat high-end technologies such as interconnected computers and communication
technologies, but we found even traditional technologies have an important role to play.
The impact of our Knowledge Centres improved dramatically when we launched a twice-monthly
newsletter called "Nammavur Seithi" [News of our village] [Annexure 9] in February 2002. We
encouraged villagers to write articles about several issues. The village children also submit
several drawings and articles. Government officials, NGOs and private companies are also
providing much useful information regularly. We expanded the community newspaper network to
35 villages based on the demand. The govt. departments and All India Radio have included
“Nammavur Seithi” for dissemination of govt. news along with regular newspapers.
We conduct several writing and drawing competitions for children at village level and selected
articles and drawings are published in “Nammavur Seithi”.
The impact of this newspaper has exceeded our expectations. Those who did not know about the
knowledge centres came to the centres in large numbers and wanted to use the services
provided, especially advertising their products and services. The newspaper made our knowledge
centres better known in the entire Union Territory of Pondicherry. Within two days of release of
the first issue in February 2002, we received more than 60 calls. Some people told they had only
heard about "Kamadhenu" (the mythical cow that gives whatever one wants), but now through M
S Swaminathan Research Foundation they obtain development news relevant to the community.
Many villagers find our newspaper refreshingly different from the commercial newspapers and
magazines that devote considerable space to news about crime and violence, politics, and
international affairs. We also use blackboards and billboards at our centres to display the
latest news and announcements. We have learned that simply because something is old we
need not discard it. And the latest and most advanced technology may not be relevant to
local needs.
Public Address System
Three of our village knowledge centres are coastal villages with 98% of the families involved in
fishing. The information requirements in these villages are different and more focused on the
safety of fisherman while at sea and on fish occurrence near shore. These villages also receive
information on wave heights 48 hours in advance, downloaded from a US Navy web site
[Annexure 10]. We broadcast the interpreted information through a Public Address System for
the benefit of fishermen. The PA system is also used for announcing various government
schemes related to fishermen on a regular basis, fish market details, employment news,
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distribution of rice, kerosene, sugar etc. in the local fair price shops. We are using both traditional
and modern technologies to spread the information to the villages.
In 2003, Judicial Bench conducted the first Lok Adalat [Makkal Needhi Mandram] in Pondicherry.
In the Lok Adalat program people are educated on the judiciary’s roles and responsibilities, whom
to approach at the time of any legal issues etc. They also explain the importance of repayment of
loans received from the banking institutions. Banks and Judicial bench use our PA system and
community newspaper for spreading the judicial training programme information to the
community.
Multimedia Micro Enterprises Training CD
At present, the banks and district rural development agency in Pondicherry mostly provide loans
to start dairy units. Most of the rural community does not know about other micro enterprises. The
MSSRF’s Biovillage programme and a few individuals have set up several micro enterprises. We
provide this information to other people. We have developed a multimedia CD [Annexure 11] giving information on how to start micro enterprises such as soap oil production, pickles from
lemon and mango, phenyl production, ornamental artifacts from coconut shells, fodder cultivation,
statues from soft stone, mushroom cultivation, detergent production, coir making and terracotta
idols.
Training and Content Creation of Village Knowledge Centres
We gave training to village volunteers on the use of computers – for typing, formatting pages,
picture editing, data analysis and presentation. Later we employed a private software company so
the villagers could get a certificate. After the training each village volunteer submitted individual
project reports and brochures [Annexure 12]. Now the villagers are doing job work like designing
wedding cards, invitations, and typing college project work. Besides they are taking computer
classes for students and conduct computer examinations and issue a certificate. We provide
training in Basic System Maintenance & Trouble shooting to the village volunteers. We also
provide screen-printing training to volunteers.
We are also giving training to rural volunteers through newspaper reporters in collecting and
presenting information crisply. All the information sent to the hub is collated and transmitted to all
the villages.
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From 2002 all the RKCs submitted their annual report [Annexure 13] created by knowledge
workers. Each report contains the following:
• Where is the RKC situated?
• When was it started?
• Training details
• What are the equipments available in the RKC?
• What are the information available and their details?
• What are the contents they produce?
• How do they disseminate the information to the villagers?
• What are the difficulties they faced? Their suggestions
We are also giving training to rural volunteers through newspaper reporters in collecting and
presenting information crisply. All the information sent to the hub is collated and transmitted to all
the villages. Many volunteers in village RKCs are capable of creating content and make web
pages.
The question of content creation is crucial to this project. The village residents are most
interested in dynamic and customized information. This is a resource-intensive activity and has
implications for sustainability in view of the potential of involving more locals to create and
manage local and customized information content. An encouraging development in this regard is
that some village knowledge centres create contents related to Agriculture, Animal Husbandry,
Education, Employment, Health, Govt. announcements, Income generating enterprises, General
information and Environment. Even after MSSRF withdraws from the scene they will create the
contents on a regular basis and share the information among them.
We also provide Basic English Knowledge training for knowledge workers.
Focusing light & Video Conferencing
In Veerampattinam, normally the fishermen use the lamp on the temple tower as a lighthouse
[Annexure 14]. After the spread spectrum antenna was set up, the villagers recommended the
setting up of a powerful lamp on top of the spread spectrum antenna tower, which was higher
than the village temple tower. This has enabled the fishermen to see the light from a greater
distance even on a misty winter night, thus increasing the safety factor for avoiding rocks close to
the shore. Now this facility is available for Nallavadu and Periyakalapet also. Video conferencing
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facility is available in all the Spread Spectrum connectivity villages. This facility is mainly used by
the SHGs and students to clear their doubts with officials and experts.
Community Banking Software [Self-Help Group Accounting Software]
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) involved in organizing micro-credit arrangements have expressed
willingness to pay fees for using PCs and the network to conduct financial transactions. The
RKCs help in forming / assisting SHGs at its project sites, and helping them in identification of
income generating activities and providing the necessary logistic and management support in
starting such micro-enterprises, and help to link the SHGs with commercial banks for availing
financial assistance under the government schemes. We have developed accounting software [Annexure 15] for SHGs with the help of District Rural
Development Agency and SHGs to keep their accounts regularly and submit the monthly reports
to Banks and District Rural Development Agency. Based on our experience we found several
SHGs were not maintaining the account properly. Now the SHGs are scrutinizing their accounts
and we are receiving several letters from different SHGs to keep their accounts in the system.
Rural Yellow Pages
We have developed rural yellow pages [Annexure 16] for 12 villages with more than 400
different addresses classified into different categories, viz. carpenters, masons, electricians,
agricultural equipment rental shops, fertilizer shops, rural banks, educational and social
institutions, hospitals, pharmacies, maternity health workers, milk societies, etc. For example, one
can know who is renting out a tractor and at what price.
Role of Partners In every programme, harnessing the power of partnerships is very important. It is only through
partnership we can bridge the gap between “Scientific know-how” and “Field Level do-how”. We are working with a number of partners.
Sustainable Agriculture & Environmental Voluntary Action (SEVA), Madurai
Many old people have their own traditional knowledge in various fields. But they may not be
sharing the information with other people, thinking that the information may not be important for
others or assuming that everybody knows it. During the “Nammavur Seithi” content collection we
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approached village people looking for traditional knowledge, particularly in the area of health.
People submitted home remedies for cold, ear pain, pain in veins, fever, etc., pest control
methods for agriculture and symptoms and remedies of animal diseases. Many people told the
project staff that they did not know that so much information was available in the village. They
found the information very useful and cost effective, as all the resources are available locally.
Based on this experience we conducted several interaction meetings with traditional healers [both
human and animal health] along with Sustainable Agriculture & Environmental Voluntary Action
(SEVA), Madurai. Students also participated in this workshop. So far we have collected more
than 600 herbal remedies related to human health and animal health.
Nowadays many poor women have access for credit through women groups or through banks.
They depend on rearing of livestock for their livelihood. The increasing cost of maintenance of
animals, sudden disease outbreak and high cost of allopathic treatment make the livestock
rearing activity uneconomical. Sometimes they are unable to repay the loan amount availed for
rearing animals and become defaulters. The need for giving training on First aid and Herbal
Healing practices for animals is realized; it will enable the villages to become aware of low cost
veterinary practices and simple but very effective sanitation and management practices which will
reduce the risk of uncertainties or input cost in animals. These will add value to their animal
husbandry practices and thereby increase their income level. Such low cost and indigenous
practices are eco friendly without producing residual toxicity or side effect. This will also ensure
clean organic production of animal products.
Based on the above need we also conducted training programmes for sharing of ethno veterinary
practices with local healers, preparation of herbal products, identification of medicinal plants,
knowledge of digestive system in animals, first aid practices, preventive treatment for various
infectious disease, use of medicinal plants in the preparation of herbal medicine for treating the
animals against selected disease and animal feed, fodder and nutrition.
These training programmes also covered how to maintain hygiene and sanitation in the cattle
shed and the practices and precautions to be followed at the time of mulching an animal and
administering the native medicines.
Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pondicherry
Cattle rearing are a very important occupation for majority of the landless families in the Union
Territory of Pondicherry. It is also significant that majority of the cattle keepers among the
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landless are women. There are various ways for extension organizations to influence farmer
decision-making, which calls for an understanding of the information systems along with the
livestock farming systems. Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences is carrying
out a research project focusing on animal health knowledge dissemination among the landless
peri-urban cattle owners. Under the research project the college organizes several stakeholders
meetings to know about important diseases of cattle and various extension approaches, which
have serious livelihood implications especially for the poor to prevent and treat these diseases.
MSSRF also participated in the meetings. These meetings found the Live stockowners are
looking for information on repeat breeding, abortion, mastitis, bloat, diarrhoea, deworming, tick
infestation, foot and mouth disease.
The college and the University of Reading, UK have conducted several studies including
investment preferences, proportion of income derived from livestock, household expenditure,
primary problems with livestock, livestock disease problems, sources of advice/help, source of
drugs, time to drug supplier and consumer preferences.
Based on the surveys the college and University of Reading, UK have developed touch screen
multimedia modules related to cattle health knowledge. They have also conducted several
training programmes for Rural Knowledge Centre villages. Now they have provided two touch-
screen computers [Embalam and Koonichampet] along with modules for RKC programme
[Annexure 17]. We have also collected several success stories.
Smt. Vimala, W/o. Sri. Sivakumar, 73 Kamarajar Nagar, Kizhur.
It is common belief in villages that after artificial insemination cows should not be allowed to sit or
lie down assuming that the semen will drop out and the animal will not conceive and hence they
tie the animal high in such a way that the animals can not sit or lie down. After attending the
training at RGV College she understood that tying up the animal should not be done. She is now
feeding her animal with nutritive and balanced feed.
Smt. Kasthuri, W/o. Sri. Boopathi, Balmurugan Nagar, Embalam
She is having three cows. They are now giving milk. One cow is a pregnant. She benefited by
attending the training at RGV College. After the attack of Mastitis, maintaining the animal
becomes uneconomical. After the attack of mastitis for her animal, through the training she has
understood that she can claim Rs. 4100/- through Insurance. She has also learnt how to feed the
animals properly.
16
Ms. V. Kantha. Thideer nagar, Pooranankuppam
During this training, she has understood how to feed the animal with balanced, nutritive feed. By
following the advise of the veterinarian, she is now able to cut down the feeding expenses. Her
animals are now healthy and the yield has increased. She has also understood how to prevent
the contagious diseases.
Smt. Mangayarkarasi, W/o Sri. Kaliamoorthi, 19, East Manaveli, Kalitheerthalkuppam
She is having one cow. This training has helped her to understand the proper timing of
inseminating, when it is in heat. She has understood that it should be inseminated within 24
hours after the first sign of heat. She has also learnt that the animal has to be fed with Bengal
gram to facilitate the animal to come to heat and the importance of de-worming the animals.
Potential Fishing Zone Electronic Board, Hyderabad
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has provided the Potential
Fishing Zone (PFZ) electronic bulletin board for Rural Knowledge Centres programme [Annexure 18] (Veerampattinam). The board displays the information on potential zones of fish aggregation
including latitude, longitude, depth, direction and distance from the landing centres / light houses.
Aravind Eye Hospital, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry
In partnership with Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry, we organize village level awareness
meetings. In these meetings we explain different eye diseases, prevention and treatments
through diagrammatic presentation. Now the Hospital provides training for our village knowledge
workers on how to identify long sight, short sight and cataract. So far six volunteers have been
given extensive training. After that the knowledge workers do the survey in the villages and send
the electronic patient record in the prescribed format to Aravind Eye Hospital along with the digital
photograph of the problematic eye. An ophthalmology assistant screens the patient records and
finalizes the type of treatment and date.
The questionnaire for ophthalmology patients and list of patients who got the treatment are
appended [Annexure 19].
We also plan to do periodical eye examination for diabetic patients, examination of school
children and prescription of glasses with simple field equipments.
17
We have collected some literature related to different eye problems and the information on
treatments. Now MSSRF and Aravind Eye Hospital are in the process of creating interactive
course material for teachers and the general public.
Tuberculosis Research Centre, Chennai
Another initiative is to create TB free zones with the help of Tuberculosis Research Centre,
Chennai. The centre has kindly started to provide training for village knowledge workers on
identifying TB patients. TRC has provided all the education materials [Annexure 20].
India Meteorological Department
IMD has been regularly sending ALL INDIA AGROMET ADVISORY BULLETIN [Significant past
weather, significant weather forecast, Main crops, Stage, Advisories] to us [Annexure 21]. IMD
also provides Tamil Agro Advisory Bulletin. This will be helpful for farmers to make their farm
plan.
SAGODARI
On July 24, 2002, the Financial Express published the following news.
“The state directorate of prisons started a computer-training course for the inmates of the
Bhubaneswar Central Jail. According to the Orissa Inspector General of prisons Bidya Bhusan
Mohanty, such training courses would be introduced in other jails of the state, with a view to
helping the prisoners become computer literate.”
Based on the news we are also thinking of doing something for people in distress, especially
victimized women. We contacted “SAGODARI”, Short Stay Home for Women & Girls, affiliated to
the International Abolitionist Federation.
SAGODARI helps the socially exploited women, destitute widows, victims of marital and familial
discord or emotional disturbances, women in moral danger and unwed mothers. They offer
shelter, security, counseling, medical care and rehabilitation to women and girls. 30 inmates,
between the ages of 18 and 43, are staying in the organization.
Our women staff visited them and found that they need the following.
• Computer training because even in a small shop they look for familiarity with computers
18
• Training in accounts software
• Need for good books particularly books on moral values
• Health related information
• Information on starting small scale industries.
Now we are regularly inviting the teachers of SAGODARI for our micro enterprises training. After
the completion of training the teachers provide training to the women staying in SAGODARI
[Annexure 22]. We also include the teachers as our resource persons when we organize village
level meetings for women to find out about their problems. Our aim is that before being
discharged each inmate is provided with vocational skills and empowered to face life’s
challenges.
VOLONTARIAT
Now our village volunteers are providing micro enterprises training through VOLONTARIAT as
consultants [Annexure 23].
Ariyankuppam Coconut Farmers Association
Ariyankuppam Coconut Farmers Association regularly shares their information with our RKCs.
We also conducted Coconut Farmers Interaction meeting associated with Ariyankuppam Coconut
farmers association [Annexure 24].
Azim Premji Foundation, Bangalore
In collaboration with Azim Premji Foundation, Bangalore we have initiated Computer Assisted
Learning Centres programme in RKC villages with the help of Department of Education,
Pondicherry. In Villianur we have trained 200 teachers. About eight government schools in seven
Rural Knowledge Centre villages are covered under this programme. Every day about 70 children
participate in the programme.
Department of Health
Department of Health has base level health data collected by auxiliary nurse mid wives working in
health centres. They want us to spread this information extensively through our network. It will
help them to assess diseases prevailing in the area and take preventative measures [Annexure 25].
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Department of Industries
Department of Industries shares information on various self-employment opportunities and
training details.
Election Commission
The Election Commission has provided us the electronic voters list. They also used the
knowledge centres to demonstrate to the public how to operate the electronic voting machine.
PONLEIT (Pondicherry Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited)
PONLEIT (Pondicherry Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited) provides several flash cards
[Annexure 26] on animal health, major diseases, preventive methods, etc. They also provide
information on how to maintain coconut trees and fodder. We provided a computer to
Kalitheerthalkuppam Milk Cooperative Society to maintain the daily milk account and speed up
the communication process to the PONLEIT where the milk collected would be sent.
Mannadipet Commune Panchayat
The Commissioner of Mannadipet Commune Panchayat has allotted space in the community hall
at Koonichampet to set up a new village knowledge centre. The government also provides free
electricity to run the knowledge centre [Annexure 27].
Romain Rolland Library, Pondicherry
We donated 1500 books received from Friends of MSSRF, Japan to Romain Rolland Library
[Annexure 28] of Pondicherry. These include biographies, autobiographies, history of the world,
high-level literature books, novels, stories, etc. We wrote several letters and met with the Director
of Art & Culture regarding the linkage of Pondicherry rural libraries to the knowledge centre
programme. Unfortunately our efforts have not been successful.
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Department of Fisheries
Department of Fisheries shares the information on entitlements related to fishermen, fishing
materials details, market information, etc. to RKC. They also seek our help to set up Port
Information Centre at Pondicherry Port [Annexure 29].
We have conducted several fishing community interaction meetings along with officials from
Department of fisheries, Banks and Experts. Based on the discussions, women in
Veerampattinam started the “Sri Sengazhuneermariamman Fisherwomen Co-operative Society”
with the help of Department of Fisheries. The main purpose of the society is to avail any welfare
schemes from Department of Fisheries and to mobilize money among the members and give loan
to the needy people for self-employment. Veerampattinam RKC continuously provides training
and useful information to the society.
Department of Agriculture
Department of Agriculture wants to link their farm clinics and also launch a new web site to
provide market information. After that we had several discussion with officials. Development
Commissioner and agriculture officials visited our centre. We also shared all our materials with
them. Based on that Department of Agriculture started three “Uzhavar Uthaviyagam” (Farmers
Help Desk). It is situated in three block development offices.
District Rural Development Agency (DRDA)
District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) provides information on various social welfare
schemes and subsidies to our below-poverty-line self help groups. The Agency constructs low
cost toilets in the villages through our network. DRDA regularly allots stalls in exhibitions
sponsored by the government to our women village volunteers for selling their products. DRDA
also seeks our help to set up Multipurpose Income generating knowledge shops in DRDA SHGs
building [Annexure 30].
National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development
National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development officials regularly attend our village level
meetings and explain about the loan facilities for small-scale cottage industries. They have also
allotted loans to our women self-help groups.
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All India Radio
All India Radio relayed interviews of Thirukanchipet villagers under the programme of “The Voice
of the Village (Grammathin Kural)”. The villagers raised several policy issues such as the
minimum wages issue and why the govt. is not providing subsidy for education of male children.
Under the ‘Silicon gramam’ programme the activities of Thirukanchipet and Nallavadu knowledge
centres are covered. we collaborate with the All India Radio (AIR), Pondicherry, and provide
content for many of their programmes relevant to the rural communities. Text written by RKC staff
at Villianur on envioronmental protection was regularly broadcast for two minutes by AIR,
Pondicherry for about 40 days from February 1, 2002 to March 10, 2002. Each broadcast lasted
two minutes. Under the OKN now we are broadcasting 15 minutes programme for every week.
Many govt. departments want us to publicize their schemes to rural community through our
knowledge centre network and community newspaper.
Participation of Rural Women
Gender concerns are central to the project. More than half the volunteers are women. This has
positively reflected in the increase in the number of women users. In the evening some
knowledge centres (KCs) provide counselling to women. Many women have formed Self Help
Groups (SHGs) paying monthly subscriptions. They borrow money from the SHGs, when there is
a need, especially for education of children and starting cottage industries. The interest on the
money borrowed accrues to the SHGs. The KCs help women get training related to new
economic opportunities like incense stick manufacturing, pickle making, phenol and soap oil
production and ornamental artifacts from seashells [Annexure 31]. Handling of PC and
answering men’s questions give women new confidence and status in the community.
Through District Industries Centre (DIC) we provide training on Bakery products for
Veerampattinam women SHGs. Through Department of Technical Education we provide the
training in tailoring for Nallavadu and Kizhur SHGs. We also conduct several family counseling
interaction meetings in association with SAGODARI. The participants divide into groups and they
discuss many issues. The rapporteur of each group made a presentation. MSSRF and
SAGODARI are regularly solving many family problems.
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ICT-enabled Development: South – South Exchange Traveling Workshop
Last two years we have conducted South – South Exchange ICT-enabled development Traveling
Workshop with the support of IDRC, Hivos, IICD and GKP. The purpose of the workshop is the
exchange of development perspectives between village communities in Tamil Nadu and
Pondicherry in southern India and civil society organizations from developing countries with
specific focus on ICT-enabled development.
The objective is to learn from one another, be stimulated by a good example and distinguish
which experiences could be used straightaway and which ones need to be adapted to the local
situation. The end result must be that the participants augment their capacity in ICT for rural
development and thus deliver better quality services to their target groups.
The participants from Africa have already initiated a few programmes based on what they had
learnt from the workshop. Based on an observation made by some African participants – about
the lack of active participation by women in the village level meeting held at Nallavadu and the
absence of women volunteers at the local knowledge centre - the village panchayat meeting
decided to form women self help groups in the village. The Embalam village knowledge centre
volunteers not only helped form the Nallavadu women self help groups but also provided the
Nallavadu women training in maintaining the rural knowledge centre.
This year we will conduct the third South-South Exchange ICT-enabled development Traveling
Workshop from October 15-22, 2004 with the support of Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP),
Malaysia.
National Technology Day
Govt. of India celebrates technology day on May 11. This is to celebrate the nation’s
achievements in science and technology as well as to take stock of our strengths and
weaknesses. Every year RKC Knowledge Workers make presentations in their own language
(Tamil) under the title of Opportunities and Challenges. Ministers, media, govt. officials,
distinguished guests from several academic institutions take part in these workshops. They raise
several questions to the village volunteers.
23
Voice of the Fishing Community
Every year the Government of India implements a ban on fishing for 45 days. This is mainly for
facilitating reproduction of fishes (growing time for fingerlings). During the period fishing
community faces severe livelihood problems. RKC conducted several fishing community
interaction meetings [Annexure 32] in association with Fisheries department and fishermen
unions and brought out their recommendations. They want alternative business opportunities,
such as production of medicines from fish and agriculture activities near the shore. They need
fishing related courses at Pondicherry University and training for ornamental fish growing.
Open Knowledge Network (OKN)
We launched the Open Knowledge Network [Annexure 33] in collaboration with OneWorld
International. OKN is a human network which collects, shares and disseminates information in
local language and seeks to contribute knowledge about heath, local culture and practices,
education, agriculture, government schemes, jobs and markets. Through this network access
points from India and Africa share their local news through a WorldSpace Satellite and Internet.
The local news is produced in Tamil and Swahili and the Meta tags are in English.
Every week 15 minutes we relayed audio contents of OKN through All India Radio. The contents
related to traditional knowledge.
Impact Study
We have conducted several impact studies, evaluation workshops and on-site interaction
meetings [Annexure 34] through college students, village volunteers, members of women self
help groups, etc.
o Telecentres Volunteers Workshop
o Users and Non-Users survey
o Impact Study of Daily Fish Rates
o Impact Study of Minimum Wages Fixed by Labor Department
o Impact Study of Use of Information Centres in Fishing Villages (Veerampattinam and
Nallavadu)
o Impact Study of Usage of Poornangkuppam Village Knowledge Centre (Coastal and
Horticulture Village)
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Replication of Knowledge Centres Concept in Gulf of Mannar Region
Gulf of Mannar is situated in the southern part of Tamil Nadu near the Sri Lankan coast. In this
area Dalits and Muslims are engaged in traditional fishing. In recent times other backward
communities have taken up to fishing using big mechanized boats and nets. Because of catching
of pregnant fish, juveniles and sea grass dragging, the fish population is reduced considerably.
Modern fishermen kill a large number of sea cows. In order to protect biodiversity in this area and
to wean fishermen from over fishing, we have three alternative activities for fishing families with
the support of UNDP, namely agar production, fish pickle making and pearl culture, all of which
have considerable commercial potential. In order to strengthen the above activities and to enhance
livelihood security and employment opportunities for the poor fisher folk an RKC was set up at
Thangatchimadam [Rameswaram] under the ISRO-MSSRF VRC programme. PFZ board was also
set up with the generous support of INCOIS. Through this RKC [Annexure 35] we will be providing
with near real time charts, based on satellite derived potential fishing zones, for fishing and
information on sea state, wave heights and other conditions related to the behavior of the sea.
Harnessing the tools of the Space Age for Rural Transformation
“We have a great deal of opportunity here because we have great competence in this country in
space technology, space satellites, communication and television. We have great capacity in the
fields of information technology and bio-technology. We also have lots of traditional wisdom, for
example in the case of medicinal plants which are the hope of health security systems not only in
India but of the world,” according to Prof. Swaminathan [Reference: interview with Parshuram
Ray], September 2002.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and MSSRF launched the Village Resource Centre
programme in Septemebr 2004. This programme will mark the beginning of the Space Age for
rural well-being. It will help to reach every rural household with location, need, gender, livelihood
and time specific knowledge (i.e. value added information) [Annexure 36]. Through this network
we will provide the services of Tele-education, Tele-Medicine, Online Decision Support,
Interactive Farmers’ Advisory Services, Tele-fishery, E-governance services, Weather services
and Water Management. This programme will cover both farm and fisher families based on the
motto: “Food, water, health, literacy and work for all and for ever”.
For each block we have formed working committees consisting of representatives from research
stations, traders, SHGs, farmers, landless laborers and govt. departments.
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Based on discussions with rural communities we find that they need an integrated advisory
system with the help of research institutes, policy makers and meteorological department. Very
soon ISRO will provide the Satellite connectivity for RKC hub [Villianur].
User Register
In all the Knowledge Centres we have user registers [Annexure 37]. From these registers, we
find that most of the villagers use our entitlement database. Incidentally, as the programmes
become widely known, we find greater transparency in governance. Samples of the user register
from our coastal villages are appended. Maintaining the register helps us how we go further and
what kind of information rural community will need.
Making an Impact: ICTs in Real Lives
The completed project has led to identification of a few key elements that should go into the
successful use of ICTs in rural development in the Indian context. For many the criteria for
evaluating telecentres until now seem restricted to the financial “success”. The bottom line being
if a telecentre or radio station makes money, then it is sustainable. No consideration about social
sustainability or the impact on social change. Sustainability deals with a wider range of
issues. Let us look at ownership, for example: community ownership is key to the sustainability of
a community communication project. However, this ownership can have multiple facets. Having a
legal title to the facility is one of these, but it is not sufficient to guarantee sustainability. Having
managerial responsibility, control over content, and a say in the project’s future are equally
important. Sustainable community ownership requires that the community has not only legal
ownership, but that also is prepared to take responsibility for the project because it has
internalised the sense of ownership.
In the past six years, this project has been the source of several success stories. I am appending
a few stories.
- Fishermen like Pannerselvan of Veerampattinam village now get life-saving weather
alerts about sea storms thanks to information relayed by the VKC via a loudspeaker in
the street.
- Anandi, a young woman of Embalam village, became a widow at an early age. She found
information via the local VKC about a government scheme for widows. She applied for a
loan and now has bought a milch cow, which has given her economic independence and
a more respectable life.
26
- Ranganathan of Kizhoor village found out about employment opportunities in the
Pondicherry Fire Service through the VKC; he now has a job thanks to additional help
from VKC volunteers in preparing his job application
- Narayani, an enterprising woman from Embalam, learnt via the VKC of a possible loan
(worth Rs. 10,000) from the Women and Child Welfare department, which she was able
to obtain for setting up a vegetable shop
- Shanmugam of Poornakuppam village contacted experts via the local VKC to find out
about intercrops in his coconut and mango groves; he was recommended banana and
snake gourd
- A group of women from Kizhoor village were able to leverage the entrepreneurship
support groups at the local VKC to help them set up their own business unit for making
and marketing incense-sticks
- Kasirajan, a cashew farmer in Manavali, contacted the VKC to tap agricultural expertise
for tacking pest problems. VKCs have also helped identify pesticide solutions for
Murugaiyan, a farmer with urad (lentil) crops, and Krishnamoorthy, a cotton farmer
- Youngsters like Vetrivelan of Nallavadu village have been able to pick up ICT skills
ranging from using fax machines to wordprocessing in the native language, Tamil, a
source of pride for Vetrivelan as well as his aging grandmother
- Sheela, a woman from Veerampattinam, set up a women’s cooperative society thanks to
support from the VKC; 250 members have already signed up
- Villagers in Kalitheertalkuppam have even discovered that a computer printout of a civic
complaint would get quicker responses from government officials as compared to a
handwritten complaint!
- Lakshmi, a 25-year old woman from Kizhoor village, identified training sources in tailoring
for herself and 20 other women; she is now an independent tailor
- Kandipan, a middle-aged farmer, has been able to find better prices for his paddy crops
in another nearby market via the local VKC, instead of getting the lower rate from a local
trader
- A mother of two girls was able to obtain information from an insurance company for a
scheme for one of her girl children which would make a Rs. 500 deposit worth Rs. 10,000
when the girl reaches the age of 18
- Villagers in Thirukanchipet have access to market rates for wages from the VKC, and are
able to fetch better rates for themselves from middlemen
- The workers union of a cotton yarn factory is using the local VKC to manage its accounts
and records
27
- Rural teachers use the resources of the VKC to prepare question papers for exams from
the 6th standard onwards, thus better preparing students for the “shock” of seeing 10th
standard exam questions in paper instead of blackboard for the first time!
- Illiterate fishermen are able to receive information about government loans and schemes
via announcements made on loudspeakers, relayed from the local VKC. Government
agencies now send information on such schemes directly to the VKC
- VKCs in coastal belts have helped set up cooperative units for the fishing community so
that they can make ornaments from shells, during times when they do not fish in order to
enable fish stocks to replenish themselves
- Village entrepreneurs have been able to leverage the VKCs to contact a mango juice
powder provider in Bangalore and a jellyfish preservation company in Chennai, thus
setting up their own local enterprises
- An autorickshaw operator analysed market data available from the VKC to pitch his
vegetable distribution services to the Kailash beach resort
- Common uses of the VKCs are for printing birth and death certificates, voting cards,
employment forms, registration forms and income level certificates, which would
otherwise take several hours and round-trip tickets to the nearest city
- In Embalam, a group of 48 women, all from the assetless labour families, have obtained
insurance for themselves against accidental loss of life or limb. This is the first insurance
ever done in this village, and this was brought about because of the information provided
by the Rural Knowledge Centre
- Janakiraman (name changed) is a farmer in Embalam holding a plot of 2 acres. He
started cultivating a hybrid variety ("Ponni") of paddy this year, the first time in six years.
This time he obtained information on the price of seeds and its availability from the Shop
at the right time. He mentions that two more farmers were enabled to cultivate "Ponni"
similarly.
- Sundari, a women labourer in Embalam, was able to negotiate better with a landed
proprietor for wages this season. Part of her wage is paid in kind in grain. Knowledge of
grain prices in the nearby markets enabled her to make sure that she got the right
quantity of grain as wage. Earlier, she had to go by whatever the land owner said was the
price.
- A volunteer at Kizhur mentions that a number of users who needed to spend an hour
commuting to the nearby sugar refinery to get information on input (fertilizer) availability,
have been able to save effort and time through placing phone calls to the factory
managers
- Several farmers in Kizhur have had their sugarcane crops ravaged in the previous years
by “Red Rot” disease, resulting in unbearable losses. After the establishment of Rural
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Knowledge Centres, prior to start of planting, they established contact through the RKCs
with an entomologist who prescribed easily implemented preventive measures.
- Based on govt. entitlements information, several women have got loans and have started
their own businesses. Some of them obtained training in new business opportunities.
Now the village women volunteers and self help group members have established good
relationships with govt. departments and officials and contest elections to local
panchayats and societies.
- Employment news provided by the knowledge centres is found very useful. Several
people have got employment in fire service department, army, private companies, police
service, education department, etc. Private companies and employee unions are also
using our system and preparing their accounts, salary certificates, subscription details,
employee details, etc.
Acclaim for Rural Knowledge Centres [a few samples] [Detailed Comments Annexure 38]
Emanuel De Barl
Director, British Council, South India
The work of this project is the 21st Century equivalent to the introduction of the Public Libraries in
the 19th century in the UK
Bruce Alberts
President, National Academy of Sciences, USA
As scientists, we need to study and learn from these experiments - so as to make a science out
of connecting the world to knowledge resources. With the technology moving so fast, it is critical
to "learn by doing" in this way, so that we learn how to make the next wave of the technology
even more useful for productive and sustainable economic development.
Kevin Pantan & Basil Baldwin
Faculty of Rural Management, University of Sydney, Orange
The dissemination of information through computer technology is the best I have seen. It is
especially important for empowering women. We met many women who spoke most eloquently
and asked us the most challenging questions. Obviously their use of the technology has given
them the knowledge and confidence to ask these questions.
29
Lieutenant General S N Sihka
Governor of Assam
I think there is tremendous scope for ushering a social and economic revolution in our rural areas
with the use of modern scientific technology.
Hon.Dr Webedaya Beatrice
Ministry of State for Health, Uganda
This project has demonstrated that with minimal infrastructure one can transform a society
through IT.
Bo Dar Bergman
SIDA, Sweden
As SIDA representative, I feel quite impressed by your achievements. One very important feature
of making use of ICT is to make it sustainable, to collect revenues so that the services can
continue, when the flow of aid funds cease
Library & Information Services Association
Kalpakkam Chapter
Information is power. This is really felt in this centre.
Dwight Wilson
World Corps, Seattle
What you are doing is very inspiring. I hope we at World Corps can learn more and perhaps take
some of this information to help us in our efforts.
Mark Waschaur
University of California, Irvine
I have traveled around the world and I find your project to be one of the finest examples of IT for
community development. The world has much to learn from your work and I will be honoured to
have the privilege to help pass on what I've seen here.
R.K. Chauhan
ADC to Governor of Tamilnadu
I realize now how front line technology can be used for real empowerment of the poor, and
transparency in government by making people aware of their rights.
30
Marie. André Manger
French TV, Canadian Broadcasting Company
I strongly believe in communication as a means to create a better world and the Knowledge
Centres enhance this belief.
Ms Barbara Keating
One World International, London
The generation of local content for local needs, supported and run by the local community itself is
the best example of social capital I have ever seen.
Mr Alex Whiting
Panos Institute, London
I have been very impressed both with the way the villages were able to develop the project to
meet their needs and with the thoroughness + honesty with which the impact of the project is
being assessed.
Alfonso Gumucio Dagron
Development Communication Expert, Rockefeller Foundation
A good example of telecentres that really care about providing appropriate information to their
constituency is the network known as Village Knowledge Centres, set up by the Swaminathan
Research Foundation in Chennai. The concept is articulated around community needs, not the
opposite.
There is one thing that we can not separate from any ICT project in Third World Countries: the
development of local databases and local web pages that are relevant to the people and that take
into account their daily needs, their culture and their language. If this is not embedded into a
project, I doubt it will have any positive results for the community. This is why the Village
Knowledge Centres in Pondicherry (M S Swaminathan Research Foundation) are such an
important and coherent experience. While most telecentres that have failed to deliver are like
Cadillacs in rural areas, the Swaminathan “knowledge centres” are like barefoot doctors and the
Green Revolution, both of which have delivered and are appropriate to their contexts.
Kevin Pantan & Basil Baldwin
Faculty of Rural Management, University of Sydney, Orange
The dissemination of information through computer technology is the best I have seen. It is
especially important for empowering women. We met many women who spoke most eloquently
and asked us most challenging questions. Obviously their use of the technology has given them
31
the knowledge and confidence to ask these questions. Equally important are the ecological
benefits that will flow from the BIOVILLAGES. This concept needs to be disseminated were
widely. It could be an important component of a global sustainability approach.
Prof Peter A. Singer, Sun Life Financial Chair in Bioethics and Director, University of Toronto
Joint Centre for Bioethics
I was extraordinarily impressed. The people on the project seemed extremely knowledgable
and passionately committed. The villagers seem to really benefit. I met one 17-year-old girl
whose father was a fisherman doing her homework for her BSc in Zoology. She told me she
was using the computer to improve her employment prospects. Most moving for me was that in
the middle of a Dalit village where 130 families live on about $1 a day and the villagers live in
straw huts with dirt floors, stands an information station with several computers and many
schoolchildren inside working away! That says something to me about the future of those
children.
The success stories -- saving lives of fisherman using weather information, improving the price of
selling rice using market information, finding employment of villagers as fireman using
employment information -- were very impressive. The focus on a bottom up approach, value
added information, and economic opportunities were obvious - and obviously effective.
The project is recognized as a model for the use of information in development. The support by
IDRC is prominently acknowledged. As a Canadian, I felt proud that our government, through
IDRC, is supporting this project.
Awards
This project won the Motorola Dispatch Solution Gold Award [Annexure 39], for the year 1999
– a global contest for the innovative use of two way radio communication. “They embraced the
technologies and basic communication system for supply of useful information in order to improve
quality of life”, reads the citation.
The project also won the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2001 under the Global Village Category [Annexure 40]. The Jury’s Motivation of this project is as follows.
”Project Information Village Research is an outstanding embodiment of the spirit of the Stockholm
Challenge to promote inclusion through the use of information and communication technologies.
Today, thanks to Information Village Research, ten villages near Pondicherry, India, are linked
32
with computers, providing information on such aspects as health, crops, weather, and fishing
conditions. These new technology tools are bridging the economic and social divide between the
haves and have nots. They are empowering everyone with knowledge and opportunity by an
inclusive use of local languages and a multimedia format that allows all to participate. Because of
this project, some traditional barriers have fallen. For example, a temple that formerly excluded
low-caste people now opens its doors to everyone so they may use computers. This project is a
wonderful example of the benefits of IT, and of the power of information and opportunity”. Observations and Suggestions by Others
A few experts from various organizations and an anthropologist made short visits to the project
sites and has discussion with project staff and villagers and gave valuable suggestions
[Annexure 41].
• Success Stories of Rural ICTs In A Developing Country, Report of the PANAsia
Telecentre Learning & Evaluation Group’s Mission to India, PANTLEG, IDRC,
DECEMBER 1999
• Prof. Grant Lewison, City University, London EC1V 0HB, England – September 10, 2003
• Dr Vedavalli, Anthoropologist
• First-hand evaluation of the 'Pondicherry Framework' – Dr Basheerhamad Shadrach,
Director, OneWorld South Asia – 2001
• Evaluating Policy Influence of ICTs for Rural Areas. The MSSRF Information Villages
Research Project – EVALNET (Evaluation for Sustainable Development in Africa), Dr
Zenda Offir and Dr Lise Kriel, April 2004
• Excerpts from talks by Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences, USA
o Science for African Development, Talk delivered at the Substantive Session of
the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland,
July 17, 2001 o Expanding the Institutions of Science, President’s Address, 138th Annual
Meeting, Washington, D.C, April 30, 2001 o Science and the World's Future, President's Address, 136th Annual Meeting,
Washington, DC, April 26, 1999
o A World that Banks on Science, President's Address, 141st Annual Meeting,
Washington, DC, April 19, 2004
33
Articles from MSSRF The Rural Knowledge Centres staff has written a few papers based on their field experiences and
presented their work in several workshops, and national and international forums [Annexure 42].
• ICTs and Poverty Alleviation, Subbiah Arunachalam, Current Science, Vol. 87, No. 7, (10
Oct 2004)
• Reaching the unreached: How can we use ICTs to empower the rural poor in the
developing world through enhanced access to relevant information? Subbiah
Arunachalam, 68th IFLA Council and General Conference, August 18-24, 2002
• EXPANDING THE VILLAGE KNOWLEDGE CENTRES IN PONDICHERRY, S.
Senthilkumaran and Subbiah Arunachalam, Regional Development Dialogue, Vol. 23,
No. 2, Autumn 2002
• Toward a Knowledge System for Sustainable Food Security The information village
experiment in Pondicherry By V. Balaji, K. G. Rajamohan, R. Rajasekara Pandy, and S.
Senthilkumaran [email protected], As submitted to the Workshop on Equity, Diversity,
and Information Technology at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, OnTheInternet
[http://www.isoc.org/oti/articles/0401/balaji.html]
• Information and Knowledge in the Age of Electronic Communication: A Developing
Country Perspective – Part I & II by Subbiah Arunachalam, Chennai, India, Bytest for All,
[http://www.bytesforall.org/5TH/arun.htm], March. /April' 2000
• Fishing with the Web in Veerampattinam, ICT Stories, Venkataraman Balaji and Subbiah
Arunachalam, 20-04-2001 [http://www.iicd.org/stories/articles/Story.import117]
• Information Shops: Taking IT to Rural Communities. Voices for Change 3(3): 28-29,
Shanmugavelan, Murali and S Senthilkumaran
• Assessment of Impact of Information Technology on Rural Areas of India, Subbiah
Arunachalam, S Senthilkumaran, APWIN March 2001 Vol. 3, pp. 132-140
• ICT-enabled knowledge centres for the rural poor – A success story from India, Subbiah
Arunachalam, An essay submitted to the 2002 International Paper Contest on
International Digital Libraries and Information Science & Technology Advances in
Developing Countries
• Information Village, Students Britannica-India, V Balaji & K Balasubramanian, Volume 6
• Creating the instruments for A knowledge revolution in rural India, M S Swaminathan,
The Hindu, Sunday, Jul 20, 2003
34
Articles in the Press about MSSRF’s RKCs
Many outsiders (including from the press, academia and research students) have visited the
Rural Knowledge Centre project sites and written about the project [Annexure 43].
• The Web 's the way to catch a fish or arrange a marriage. Michael Le Page goes online
in India, Village-life.com, New Scientist magazine, vol 174 issue 2341, 04/05/2002, page
44
• From Beedees to CDs: Snapshots from a Journey through India’s Rural Knowledge
Centres, Julie Ferguson, IICD, IICD Research Brief – No 4, January 2003
• Connecting Rural India to the World, CELIA W. DUGGER, The New York Times, May 28,
2000
• M.S. Swaminathan: Brain Food For the Masses - The father of a 'green revolution' that
staved off famine in India 40 years ago has a new cause: delivering information to the
underclass By SANJAY KAPOOR, Asiaweek.com, June 29, 2001
• EXAMINING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF RURAL IT INTERVENTIONS: LESSONS
FROM THE FIELD, Shivraj Kanungo, George Washington University, Washington, DC
USA, [email protected], 2002 . Twenty-Third International Conference on Information
Systems
• The Internet Comes to Rural India, Keane Shore, November 5, 1999
• Global Village wins Stockholm Challenge Award, DEEPA H RAMAKRISHNAN, News
Today, September 28, 2001
• Information villages: Connecting rural communities in India, Katherine Morrow, LEISA
MAGAZINE, JULY 2002
• Internet Reaches Rural Poor-Appropriate Technology, Vol 27, Part 1
• Stories for Change, Fishing for information, InfoChange
• Changing rural lives, ASHA KRISHNAKUMAR, Frontline, Volume 18 - Issue 24, Nov. 24 -
Dec. 07, 2001, India's National Magazine from the publishers of THE HINDU
• The Rural Connection, Rediff.Com, 2001
• Fischer in the net, Meena Menon, NZZ Online
• Canadian program helps cast information net over India's poor, Web access brings
promise of better life for underclass, Martin Regg Cohn, ASIA BUREAU, thestar.com
• Villagers get cyber savvy, ANANYA MUKHERJEE, 2000, Indian Express Newspapers
(Bombay) Ltd.
• Information villages' in Pondicherry, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, 1998
• Village wide web, The Week, December 2000
35
• Wiring up a Knowledge Revolution in Rural India, Lalitha Sridhar, OneWorld South Asia,
09 September 2003
• Tokyo Connection to E-volution of an Indian village, Ravi Mehta, April 2000
• Knowledge Centre inaugurated in Pondicherry, December 2001
Box Items or Part of the Report
Several articles and brochures include Rural Knoweldge Centre activities as an box item or
referred [Annexure 44].
• Making Waves, STORIES OF PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION FOR SOCIAL
CHANGE, A REPORT TO THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION, BY ALFONSO
GUMUCIO DAGRON, FORWARD BY DENISE GRAY-FELDER
• ICTs and Rural Development: Review of the Literature, Current Interventions and
Opportunities for Action, Robert Chapman and Tom Slaymaker, Working Paper 192
Results of ODI research presented in preliminary form for discussion and critical
comment
• TELECENTRE EVALUATION A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, Report of an International
Meeting on Telecentre Evaluation, Edited by Ricardo Gómez and Patrik Hunt, IDRC, FAR
HILLS INN, QUÉBEC, CANADA, SEPTEMBER 28-30, 1999
• BOX 2.5 - Innovating with the Internet, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1999
• Comparing Approaches: Telecentre Evaluation Experiences in Asia and Latin America,
Katherine Reilly, Master of Public Administration, Carleton University, Canada,
[email protected] and Ricardo Gómez, Senior Program Specialist, International
Development Research Centre IDRC, Canada, [email protected], EJISDC (2001) 4, 3, 1-
17
• Telecentres in Rural Asia: Towards a Success Model, Dr Roger Harris, Conference
Proceedings of International conference on Information Technology, Communications
and Development (ITCD 2001), November 29-30, 2001, Kathmandu, Nepal. www.itcd.net
• Prometheus riding a Cadillac? Telecentres as the promised flame of knowledge By
Alfonso GUMUCIO DAGRON
[http://www.geocities.com/agumucio/ArtPrometheusCadillac.html]
• Box 23: NGOs Take ICT to Rural Women, THE GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE II WOMEN’S
FORUM, Asian Women in the Digital Economy: Policies for Participation, United Nations
Development Programme, 2001
• Information and Communication Technology and Poverty: An Asian Perspective, M. G.
Quibria and Ted Tschang, January 2001
36
• Harnessing the power of information and communications technology for sustainable
partnerships - “Seizing the extraordinary opportunities of the digital revolution is one of
the most pressing challenges we face.” Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
• Leveraging IT for India's development - Part II, Prof. Venkatesh, Indian Institute of
Information Technology, Bangalore, [email protected] - Times Computing Columns
• India starts hooking up villages with Internet - Access to services touted as benefit, but
critics unconvinced, Amol Sharma, Chronicle Foreign Service, San Francisco Chronicle,
Monday, January 27, 2003
• Information Village project of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Pondicherry,
OFANEWS, September 2002
• Software Applications and Poverty Reduction, A review of experience, Jane Millar, Robin
Mansell, INK@SPRU, University of Sussex, 30 June 1999, (Revised 1 October 1999),
Final Report prepared for the Department for International Development, London
• ISSUES OF DIGITAL DIVIDE IN SOUTH ASIA: ‘IT FOR PEOPLE’ EXPERIMENTS IN
THE REGION, Partha Pratim Sarker, Bytes for All, Bangladesh, 2002 International
Conference on the Digital Divide: Technology & Politics in the Information Age
• Social Capital and Access, Mark Warschauer -- University of California, Irvine, Universal
Access in the Information Society, 2(4), 2003
• Information Technologies to Serve the Poor How Rural Areas Can Benefit from the
Communications Revolution, Georg Caspary, D+C Development and Cooperation (No. 1,
January/february 2002, p. 4-5)
• IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF APPROPRIATE AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT, Oliver Wakelin, co-authored by Basheer Shadrach [
http://www.enterprise-impact.org.uk/word-files/ICTs.doc]
• The Internet in India: Better Times Ahead? Grey E. Burkhart, Seymour E. Goodman,
Arun Mehta, Larry Press, November 1998/Vol. 41, No. 11 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE
ACM
• TELECENTRE 2000, Report 2: INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES, Section 2.2:
INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDY – INDIA, PATRICK BURTON, (DRA-development),
May 2000, Johannesburg
Lessons Learned
The Rural Knowledge Centre programme has been designed on the Antyodaya principle of Mahatma Gandhi, i.e., ensure that the poorest person in the village gains from the technology and that technology does not further enlarge the rich-poor divide. MSSRF’s
experience in bridging the digital divide in rural Pondicherry has provided the following guidelines
37
for harnessing this powerful tool for alleviating poverty and for ensuring sustainable ecological
food and nutrition security.
• Connectivity, content and sustainability should receive concurrent attention.
• Constraints must be removed on the basis of a malady-remedy analysis; for example,
wired and wireless technologies could be used where telephone connections are not
adequate or satisfactory. Similarly, solar power can be harnessed where the regular
supply of power is irregular. The approach should be based on the principle that there
is an implementable solution for every problem.
• The information provided should be demand driven and should be relevant to the day-
to-day life and work of rural women and men. Also, semi-literate women should be
accorded priority in training to operate the centre, since this is an effective method of
enhancing the self-esteem and social prestige of women living in poverty.
• Knowledge dissemination should be linked to access to the inputs needed to apply the
knowledge for economic activities.
• The Knowledge Centres should operate on the principle of social inclusion, thereby
presenting a win-win situation for all.
• The programmes designed to empower rural families with new knowledge and skills
should be designed on the antyodaya model, where the empowerment starts with the
poorest and most underprivileged women and men.
• The local population should have a sense of ownership of the Knowledge Centre. It
should be client managed and controlled, so that the information provided is demand
and user driven.
• The local population should be willing to make contributions towards the expenses of
the Knowledge Centre, so that the long-term economic sustainability of the programme
is ensured. Contributions in cash or kind generate a sense of ownership and pride and
create an economic stake in the operation of the centre.
Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity Out of our experience with Rural Knowledge Centres was born the Jamsetji Tata National Virtual
Academy [NVA] [August 23, 2003] for Rural Prosperity with the generous support of the Tata Social Welfare Trust, which aims to bring together experts and grassroots level people in two-
way communication. The main aim of the NVA is that knowledge should reach every home and
hut. The state level hub located at MSSRF will be the key knowledge resource that will create and
maintain web sites and databases for the local hubs in close collaboration with national and
international agencies. This will also serve as the primary data provider tied up with research
38
institutions, field stations and govt. extension departments. The state level hub links with block
level or equivalent hubs in the state. The latter hubs serve a cluster of villages. Therefore, we are
developing an information system that connects lab-to-lab, lab-to-land, land-to-lab and land-to-
land [Annexure 45].
Linkages
The Virtual Academy acts as a bridge between experts and the rural communities. The rural
people need knowledge available with experts, and the Academy facilitates the flow of
knowledge. To be able to do this the Academy has established links with a variety of
organizations. These include govt. departments (Space, Meteorology, Agriculture, Rural
Development, Fisheries, etc.), academic and research institutions (agricultural universities, field
stations, research labs), financial institutions, local government institutions, on the one hand and
self-help groups, farmers’ associations, etc. on the other.
To be effective, four kinds of linkages are being developed.
Lab to Lab: This will involve organizing a consortium of scientific institutions and data providers
Lab to Land: This will involve symbiotic linkages between the providers of information and the
users, so that the information disseminated is relevant to the life and work of rural families
Land to Lab: There is considerable traditional knowledge and wisdom among rural and tribal
families concerning the sustainable management of natural resources, particularly water.
Therefore, the technical experts should not only learn from traditional knowledge and experience,
but also take steps to conserve for posterity dying wisdom and dying crops.
Land to Land: There is much scope for lateral learning among rural families; such learning has
high credibility because the knowledge coming from a fellow farm woman or man would have
been subjected to an impact analysis from the point of view of its economic and social relevance
to the population.
Fellows of the National Virtual Academy
This Academy aims at reaching frontier technology to the resource poor rural women and men
and enabling them to become masters of their own destiny. It will help to create large numbers of
39
knowledge managers in our villages, most of whom will be women. In the initial step, we have
selected six Fellows of NVA through a rigorous selection process.
One of them Ms D Usharani was invited by Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) and One World
International to take part in the ICT4D events that took place as an adjunct to World Summit on
Information Society, Geneva in December 2003.
Ms D Usharani spoke at the launch of the Open Knowledge Network and gave away two GKP
Awards to winner in a ceremony. She played an active role in the one world stall and was
interviewed by many media persons.
Policy Makers Workshop We have conducted a Policy Makers Workshop [Annexure 46] on October 8-9, 2004. The main
aim of this workshop was to sensitize policy makers to critical issues in the use of ICTs to
promote human development in rural areas. More than 60 participants took part. One of the
recommendation of the workshop is “Every village a knowledge centre: There is a need for
developing a master plan coupled with a business plan for extending the benefits of ICT to all the
600,000 villages in India by 2007, which marks the 60th anniversary of our Independence. The
master plan should help to link technology-knowledge-rural women and men in a symbiotic
manner. The investment needs will have to be estimated and business plans prepared. A
National Alliance for ICT for Poverty Eradication may be established for launching the Every
Village a Knowledge Centre movement. Such an alliance should include the private sector,
cooperatives, NGOs, R & D institutions, women’s associations, mass media and appropriate
government agencies”.
Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre
We have conducted a Jamsetji Tata consultation [Annexure 47] on forming a National Alliance
for Agenda 2007: “Every Village a Knowledge Centre” on May 19-20, 2004. In this consultation
we discussed the issues of technology, content development and dissemination, scalability and
sustainability of the programme and capacity building, network management and servicing.
Seven task forces were formed. There are 42 initial alliance partners and more will join. Agenda
2007 is designed as an offering of the S & T and Academic community, Civil Society
organizations, Private and Public Sector Industry, Financial Institutions, International Partners
and Mass Media to the Nation on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of India’s independence on
15 August 2007.
40
National Alliance for Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre
A follow up meeting was held on July 9-10, 2004 at New Delhi. 125 participants took part. After
the meeting we have formed a General Body and reconstituted the task forces with additional
members. The document circulated to the members of the National Alliance is appended
[Annexure 48]. Conclusion
We started this research project in a small way. We expanded the programme to 12 villages and
networked and partnered with many institutions. The seed shown in Pondicherry in 1998, with
support from 1998, is now poised to grow into a mighty tree [Annexure 49]. From a small
beginning the information village has grown into a national mass movement that will cover the
more than 600,000 villages of India. In this venture we will partner with academia, research
institutions, government departments, Panchayat Raj institutions, civil society organizations,
banks, private companies, industry associations, etc. As the task we have set ourselves is
mammoth and the time is short, the only way we can achieve our goal is through forging
partnerships and forming networks. Through ICT SHGs, the Alliance will operate rural knowledge
centres, community newspapers, Internet and cable radio, tele-education, tele-health and ICT
based business activities. Rooted in the Gandhian ideal of Antyodaya (i.e, unto the last) the Rural
Knowledge Centre, pioneered by M S Swaminathan, has come to stay. We are greatly indebted
to IDRC for coming forward to support this programme at a time when it was not clear to many
that ICTs can play a major role in rural development and poverty alleviation.
41