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ICT empowers lives in rural India

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CIOL Bureau
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The third annual initiative on ICT and development in a small town like Baramati in Maharashtra turned out to be an eye opener in what social entrepreneurs can achieve with technology. It was heartening to note that the social entrepreneurs were quietly working away from media glare to e-enable the have-nots with the tools of communication to bridge a daunting digital divide.



This year saw an eclectic mix of youth from India and social entrepreneurs from various developing regions as diverse as Latin America, Africa and Asia, talking about how ICT had made a difference in their lives.






Akhtar Badshah, Executive Director of Digital Partners, the company that organized the effort in association with Vidya Pratisthan’s Institute of Information Technology (VIIT) put it succinctly when he declared, "I don’t know a thing about technology. It is these young lives who will make a difference to humankind."





Take the instance of 19-year-old Tamara Hernandez representing the Mexico-based Artensanas Campesinas that runs a project involves based on direct distribution model to sells handcrafted jewellery. The project aims at helping artisans sell directly to retailers in the United States and Europe, thereby bypassing the middleman and allowing a greater percentage of sales to accrue to local producers.





Back home, 19 year old Maitrya Doshi from Pune, the Indian representative of Canada-based organization ‘Taking IT Global’ has embarked upon a mission to encourage tech-savvy youth to involve themselves in bridging the digital divide by taking up ICT projects in various parts of rural India. Maitreya hopes to kick start a national campaign sometime in August in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkota and Pune to exhort the youth.





Yet another social entrepreneur, Mitra Technologies, for example, has been working on developing a handicrafts e-trade center that would connect producers directly to wholesale and retail buyers, resulting in increased efficiencies in marketing and production. This extra-net based computerized network would connect producers to buyers in a B2B environment. Mitra has transformed lives of artisans in Orissa.





According to D Behra, member of Mitra Technologies, the company is looking forward to achieve an ambitious turnover of Rs 2 crore in the forthcoming year, up from Rs 50 lakh. "We wish to network more than 10,000 artisans all over the country and show case their craft to the global market for higher gains," he said.





Akshaya, the project begun by the Kerala Government has established 565 ICT centres with 5 computers each across Mallapuram district with the aim of familiarizing at least one person in every family with computers, besides providing access to e-content in the local language. According to Kiran G R, mission coordinator, Kerala State IT Mission, the plan is to set up 9,000 such centres all over Kerala.





The eSwasthya project launched by Bihar Institute of Economic Studies (BIES), on the other hand, would allow the poor in Madhubani district to gain access to better health at lower cost by providing them with smart health cards. These cards would contain their entire health history, which can be accessed at local community health centers.





BIES has signed a contract with IBM Canada Ltd and Saskatchewan Telecommunications International Inc., in conjunction with BSNL and is being funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). A pilot project is being carried out in 22 villages in Madhubani district, said Nitish Mishra, advisor BIES.





Athar Z Haque, Director of the Delhi-based N H Medicomp R & D Pvt Ltd which is managing the e-health-care project in other northern states says that another pilot project is expected to be carried out in 30 villages in Babai tehsil of Hoshangabad district and Khirkiya tehsil of Harda district, both in Madhya Pradesh.





While there have been many notable successes, perhaps the most heartening was the heart-felt cry from Ratan Harilal Gedia, a salt-pan worker from Gujarat, who is working in the area of healthcare and is teaching women of her age the use of computers. Ratanben is after her 8-year-old son to learn computers so that he can make a name for himself in the future.


Can we still say that IT is a far cry for rural India? Its no longer a dream impossible!



























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