e-power @rural india

http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1484919,curpg-3.cms
The term, Digital Divide, has always fascinated the Indian IT industry. Both the
government and social organisations from the private sector have launched various
schemes to take IT to the masses.'
In fact, IT !"s have taken the lead in launching applications for the rural areas.
icrosoft, Intel and #$, all have something to offer to the rural India.
In fact a recent survey of %& e'governance pro(ects, done )y )y management and I"T
consultancy firm *+,"#, spread across -- states accorded an overall rating of ../& to
rural e'governance pro(ects against ..0% to ur)an pro(ects. Thus contrary to popular
perception, information technology seems to making a far greater impact in rural areas
than ur)an centres. #ere's a look into some of the important ways in which IT is
revolutionising the rural India.
etterly, utterly emul
IT has played a critical role in the development of the 1mul )rand. IT leads the logistics
)ehind the co'ordination of appro2imately si2 million litres of milk per day from a)out
more than -0,000 separate village co'operative societies throughout 3u(arat, and storing,
processing and producing of milk products at the various district dairy societies.
The installation of over %,000 1utomatic ilk "ollection *ystem 4nits 51"4*6 at
village societies to capture mem)er information, milk fat content, volume collected, and
amount paya)le to each mem)er. In addition to the 7I1*, 1mul has also )een using
3eographic Information *ystems 53I*6 in an innovative way. The company uses 3I* in
its head office and key marketing offices. 4sing the Indian map in 3I*, the company is in
a position to plot 8one9depot )oundary as well as a pointer for 8one, depot and distri)utor
locations, which are superimposed )y product'wise sales data. This data is then used for
sales and distri)ution planning according to the various 8ones.
!oing direct to farmers
Taking the Internet to the villages and empowering rural India with information at the
click of a )utton is what )est descri)es IT"'s much acclaimed initiative ' e'"houpal.
IT"'s uni:ue we) )ased initiative offers farmers of India all the information, products and
services they need to enhance farm productivity, improve farm'gate price realisation and
cut transaction costs. ;ith the e'"houpal farmers can access latest local and glo)al
information on weather, scientific farming practices as well as market prices at the village
itself through this we) portal ' all in #indi. It also facilitates the supply of high :uality
farm inputs as well as purchase of commodities at their doorstep.
3iven the literacy and infrastructure constraints of Indian farmers, the scheme provides
physical service support through a "houpal *anchalak ' who himself is a lead farmer. The
"houpal *anchalak acts as the interface )etween the computer terminal and the farmers.
"oney, money
<armers in a remote village in #onavar, /00 km away from Bangalore, are using 1T
machines to open a )ank account. 1 mo)ile 1T machine goes around over five villages
allowing ==000'odd farmers to open an account, re:uest for a loan and )e a)le to deposit
as well as withdraw cash at will in the near future. The 1T machine is linked wirelessly
through >eliance Infocomm's network to the )ackend server of the participating )ank,
which includes *yndicate Bank and *tate Bank of India. The software on the 1T is
simple ' in regional languages and very easy to decipher.
"oile telephony through postmen
*tarted under the governement's 3rameen *anchar *evak scheme, a postman totes mo)ile
phone along with letters. $ostmen carry ;i?? 5wireless in local loop6 phones while
delivering mail. >esidents can use the phone to make calls, )oth local and *TD for a
charge. The service is targeted at people who do not own a telephone.
These phones have in')uilt display units which show the num)er of pulses for
determining the duration of an outgoing call. ,nce the call is over, an on'the'spot )ill is
presented for instant payment )y the person making the call. <or easy calculation, a ready
reckoner is also )een provided along with the phone in the local language.
#nformation $us
@ai +isan, an !3, set up to introduce rural IT technology in 4ttaranchal ' is hoping to
put up over %000 +isan *oochna +endras 5a digital hu)6 across the state. 1ll -% districts
will )e covered under the new scheme, the model for which is loosely )ased on e'
"houlpal. 1 *oochna +endra will have facilities like the Internet, )asic telephony, a full'
fledged home theatre, call centres and other IT'ena)led services that are related to
weather and agriculture.
1lready AB *oochna +endras have )een installed acrposs the state. 7ach $radhan of a
rural panchayat will )e entitled to nominate one entrepreneur who can set up the +*+ at
his village. 1 +*+ would employ nearly -- to -= people. <or the )enefit of tourists, a
num)er of *oochna +endras will also )e set up on the roads leading to Badrinath,
+edarnath, Camunotri and 3angotri.
*imilarly, "hennai')ased n'?ogue "ommunications, part of the Telnet group, has already
rolled out over =,B00 kiosks across the country using "'ordect technology 5wireless and
local loop6 to provide )road)and connectivity to the villages. Dillagers can pay and use
the Internet. Typical uses are sending and receiving e'mails, telemedicine, )rowsing for
(o) opportunities and video games.
%udumashree &ro'ects
The +udum)ashree pro(ects, started as a -0'year programme as part of the +erala's *tate
$overty 7radication ission, have left an indeli)le mark in many arenas. #elping them
on the way is IT. The '+udum)ashree' IT units do data entry, DT$ work and provides
some computer training in the /- +udum)ashree IT units functioning across +erela. This
entire network of IT centers is run )y /00'odd women who )attle poverty and )uild a life
)y logging on to a computer. ost of the centres are already connected through e'mail so
the data entered into the computers can )e sent immediately to the respective offices.
"omputer hardware units have also come up, that assem)le computers and take up
maintenance.
(ow-cost telemedicine solution
Bangalore )ased !eurosynaptic "ommunications and the Te!eT 5The
Telecommunications and "omputer !etworks6 group at IIT, "hennai, have developed a
low cost telemedicine solution for rural areas. It includes a remote diagnostic kit and a
personal computer to provide )asic healthcare infrastructure in rural areas, and help
people sitting in villages to get advice from doctors in ur)an areas. The >s -0,000'kit can
)e installed at villages having Internet connection. It can measure )asic physiological
parameters like temperature, )lood pressure, pulse rate and multichannel 7"3. It also has
an electronic stethoscope. The kit is si2 to seven times cheaper than the currently
availa)le products, if each feature is )ought on a stand'alone )asis.
Doctors in secondary or tertiary healthcare centres and patients at remote locations can )e
connected to each other over a videoconferencing link. The data from the kit is
communicated to a computer through a wireless infrared link. The fully )attery operated
kit also has an integrated video9 audio conferencing capa)ility, and a central data)ase can
store all patient records and history. easurements made using the kit can )e sent to the
doctor in a remote location over the Internet. 4sing the data, the doctor can diagnose the
patient and make a more informed decision.
)o #nternet here* )o prolem
7post introduced )y India $ost has also helped )ridge the digital divide. 4ntil recently,
only city dwellers and corporates were within the reach of the ;orld ;ide ;e), although
a ma(ority of the Indian population continue to live in rural areas.
;ith 7post in place, messages, pictures or graphics can )e scanned at the designated
e$ost centres and sent as e'mail through the Internet. The destination e$ost centres print
and deliver the message to the addressees through postmen. The popularity of this service
can )e gauged from the average num)er of hits registered on the e$ost ;e) site every
day. 1 service charge per 1A si8e printout is collected. The )illing is )ased on the num)er
of characters.
It is not (ust individuals. Institutions and organisations also use this service to send )ulk
mails and to advertise their products.
+he rural u,,
>uralBa8ar is a we) store that allows online marketing of the rural products. It can )e
configured to address different re:uirements E can act as a show case for rural productsF
allow )uying and selling with offline9traditional mode of payments 5)ank draft or postal
order6F further scaled to allow online payments along with offline payment.
$ilot implementations of >uralBa8ar has )een done at +anyakumari and +ancheepuram
districts of Tamil !adu. 3overnment of Tamil !adu has also provided a server to host
>uralBa8ar software and the data of products of afore stated district is )eing uploaded.
!oing -oft
>ural*oft=000 is a 34I')ased scala)le solution and can )e installed at the levels of
$anchayats, Blocks, D>D1s and *tates depending upon the availa)ility of computing
and communication environment. The software allows online monitoring through we)'
)ased reports and also facilitates periodic e2change of reports to facilitate offline
monitoring as well. The pilot level implementation and training of the software was
conducted at -B pilot districts provided with D*1T connectivity )y >D.
&ria-oft or &anchayati .a' #nstitution /ccounting -oftware 5$ria*oft6 is a software
package that addresses the monitoring of allocated funds, e2penditure pattern, local
revenue generation and allows transmission of intended reports to various monitoring
agencies. The software captures monthly data at grass'root level, su)(ect to availa)ility of
computing infrastructure and transmits the consolidated data to the ne2t higher formation
through e'mail. $ria*oft empowers the administrators to monitor the fund receipt,
availa)ility, and e2penditure at all levels of three'tier administrative set up of $anchayati
>a( Institutions. It generates a num)er of reports and has an in')uilt decision support
system to analy8e any of the account heads. The software is used )y Tamil !adu and
3overnment of adhya $radesh.