i4donline.net ~ June 2004 Issue - Answer to Quiz in May issue, 2004

Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions was set up in 1993. It aims “to strengthen the creativity of grassroots inventors, innovators and ecopreneurs engaged in conserving biodiversity and developing eco-friendly solutions to local problems.” Prof Anil K. Gupta of Centre for Management in Agriculture, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is its President. It is associated with the well-known Honeybee Network, which has more than 30,000 ideas. For details, visit the Web site http://www.sristi.org
TARAhaat is a Delhi-based company dedicated to continuous innovation and product development. It was launched in late 2000 in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. In 2001, TARAhaat expanded its operation into Punjab. Today, TARAhaat has 22 centres and is in the midst of a major expansion in Punjab, and in the Bundelkhand region.
Its current products are focused on education, communication and
e-governance. It delivers its services through a network of franchised community and business centers owned by individual entrepreneurs. For details visit the Web site
http://www.tarahaat.com/tara/aboutusEnglish
Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) programme. The programme aims to support “civil society organisations in assisting people in the poorest and most backward districts of India to realise their entitlements more effectively and sustainably.” The PACS Programme concentrates on the hundred poorest districts located in the geographically contiguous areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Centre-West (Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Maharashtra). The Development Alternatives ( http://www.devalt.org/ )- PricewaterhouseCoopers(P) Ltd. consortia are implementing the programme with the support British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). For details, visit the Web site http://www.empowerpoor.org/about.htm.
Conceived by Satyan Mishra, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), it has genesis in Gyandoot project on February 26, 1999 in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. It started its second project under its own brand in Sirsa district of Haryana. Its software platform enables e-governance and provides access to education and health services, market-related information, and private information exchanges and transactions. It is capable of creating 50,000 information kiosks all over India in six years. These kiosks would serve a market of 500 million (50 crore) people, with a purchasing power of Rs. 100 billion (Rs. 10,000 crore). In less than two years, it has set up 300 kiosks six Indian states. For details, visit the Web site http://www.drishtee.com/nd/index.htm.
Launched in June 2000 by ITC Limited, one of India’s largest consumer product and agribusiness companies, as an Internet kiosk for e-commerce and run by a lead farmer selected by the company called the sanchalak. e-Choupal services today reach more than a million farmers growing a range of crops - soyabean, coffee, wheat, rice, pulses, shrimp - in over 18,000 villages through 3000 kiosks in five states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. [choupal means village gathering place in Hindi]. For details, visit the Web site http://www.itcportal.com/agri_exports/e-choupal_new.htm.
These are village information kiosks in Nellikuppam town in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu set up by the E.I.D.Parry (India) Ltd., Chennai, which has a sugar factory there. E.I.D. Parry has a turnover of $600 million and has operations in farm inputs, sugar, confectionaries and sanitary ware. A Parry corner is a low-cost telecom system for accessing voice and the Internet through kiosks and consists of a PC, printer, touch screen, telephone, and a power back up system. Trained personnel who are employees of EID Parry manage the kiosks. (Source: The Financial Express, April 24, 2001, cited at http://www.tenet.res.in/Press/24042001.html; and http://www.uncrd.or.jp/ict/nellikuppam.html).
For-profit Internet kiosks, for whole of India except top 100 or 150 cities, set up by n-Logue Communications Private Limited, Chennai (PG Ponappa, CEO), one of several companies incubated by Telecommunications and Communications Networks (TeNet) ( http://www.tenet.res.in) Group of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai. The kiosks are based on corDECT, a wireless in local loop (WLL) system pioneered by Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala and jointly designed by TeNet, Midas and Analog Devices, USA. So far more than 500 kiosks have been set up in Tamil Nadu and other states. For details, visit the Web site http://www.n-logue.co.in/aboutus.htm.
Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) programme announced by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Independence Day (August 15) 2003. The programme envisages four types of connectivity for these rural clusters — road transport and power connectivity; electronic connectivity in the form of reliable telecom, internet and IT services; knowledge connectivity in the form of good educational and training institutes and market connectivity that would enable farmers to get the best prices for their produce. (Source: The Hindu, August 16, 2003, http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2003/ 08/16/stories/2003081603421100.htm).
The Baramati concept is “the enormous potential for digital technologies and the Digital Economy to help poor communities leapfrog out of poverty” and the purpose of Baramati initiative is “to showcase examples of how ICT is being employed to provide sustainable solutions to the needs of poor communities.” Baramati is 99 kilometres from Poona in Maharashtra. Annual workshop on ICT and Development have been organised in Baramati since 2001. The fourth workshop – Baramati 4 (February 19-23, 2004) – focused on information kiosks. For details, visit the Web sites http://www.baramatiinitiatives.com/ict04.htm and http://www.digitalpartners.org/new_baramati_4.html#top.
Rajasthan. Computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided machining (CAM), introduced in 2000, have helped the carpet weavers of Rajasthan to almost double their exports to Rs 403 crore in 2002-03 from Rs 223 crore in 2000-01, according to a case study by Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad for the Planning Commission. The software has been developed by Delhi-based software company, PLC Consultation. (Source: Somasekhar, M. (2004): ICT – a boon to Rajasthan carpet weavers, The Hindu Business Line, February 17, Tuesday, Internet Edition, Dateline: Hyderabad, February 16, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/02/ 17/stories/2004021701270400.htm).
The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Ahmedabad founded by Elaben Bhat ( http://www.sewa.org). The organisation donating the computers is World Computer Exchange (WCE) ( http://www.worldcomputerexchange.org ) funded by its strategic partner, Digital Partners (DP) ( http://www.digitalpartners.org). ASHA, a New Haven, CT-based all-volunteer organisation ( http://www.ashanet.org/yale) will assist SEWA and WCE in setting up the computer centres.
Swayam Krishi Sangam (literally, self-effort collective or co-operative in Telugu). SKS’s mission is to empower the poorest of the poor to become self-reliant. Its vision is to cover 100 poorest districts of India. Founded by Vikram Akula (Chair, SKS) in 1997, it operates in Medak and Nalgonda districts of the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh. Its working is based on peer-lending model and it advances loans only to women. It had reached 21,372 families and opened 821 sangams (centres) by February 2004. For details, visit the Web site http://www.sksindia.com/.
Warana Wired Village project. Warana is well-developed rural area, 30 kilometres northwest of Kolhapur in Maharashtra. About 50,000 farmers live in 100 villages spread in 25,000 square kilometre area covered by Warana Group of Co-operatives (WGC). The WGC has 25 co-operatives with total turnover of US $130 million. (Source: Cecchini, Simone and Monica Raina (2002): Village Information Kiosks for Warana Co-operatives in India, July, http://www.egov4dev.org/warana.htm). Visit http://www.mah.nic.in/warana/ for further details of the project.
Media Lab Asia (MLA). For details of Hisaab, visit the Web site http://www.medialabasia.org/mlaShow.php? fileR=20020830132112&dir=2002/08/30&format=htm& typeId=6&subTypeId=5.
Basix ( http://www.basixindia.com/ ), a new generation rural livelihood promotion institution set up in 1996. Since 1996, it has disbursed over 1.25 lakh loans worth more than Rs. 150 crores with the repayment rate exceeding 95 per cent and generating more than 50,000 livelihoods in terms of wage and self-employment. Basix operates in 19 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand covering more than 4,500 villages. (Source: Reddy, Ravi (2003): 14 MACS create history by going online, The Hindu, December 19, Saturday, http://www.basixindia.com/the_Hindu.htm).
The software (module) has been designed and developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi. The Viswa Gram project module e-Gram Panchayat Monitoring System is for maintaining record of village information of all families’ data and issue of necessary certificates to citizens. It has been implemented in 32 villages of Bhavnagar district. (Source: http://informatics.nic.in/newsonline/ n-view.asp?NewsID=185).
M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). The Foundation has established an experimental network in India that will soon connect more than 20 isolated villages to a wireless Internet service. The project won Stockholm Challenge Award 2001under the Global Village category giving it further visibility
It is an ambitious project launched by Aksh Optifibres Limited for setting up multimedia Internet kiosks in 2,50,000 out of 6,50,000 villages in India in the next 10 years with a capital outlay of Rs 12,500 crore. Each kiosk will be manned by a local villager called a gramdoot (literally, village messenger in Hindi). Services like telemedicine, e-governance, cable TV, voice services, distance education and web camera will be accessed from the kiosk. (Source: Verma, Prachi (2002): Aksh to Target 2.5 Lakh Villages With ‘Gramdoot,’ The Financial Express, March 22, Monday, front page, Net edition, http://www.financialexpress.com/ fe_archive_ full_story.php?content_id=5258). The first Gramdoot kiosk was inaugurated by Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, at village Dabri Rampura on January 2, 2002. (Source: The Hindu Business Line, January 5, 2002, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2002/ 01/05/stories/2002010500550700.htm). This initiative has already been implemented in 200 villages in Rajasthan (The Sunday Express, November 23, 2003, http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=35844).
Working Group on information technology (IT) for Masses. It recommended, among other things, that information technology (IT) yatras (journeys) should be launched under the leadership of prominent citizens / celebrities in different parts of the country. Its report was accepted by Government of India in 2001. It led to the announcement in Parliament of a National IT Mission (NITM) on April 26, 2001 to oversee the implementation of its recommendations. The NITM was reconstituted on April 23, 2003. (Source: http://www.mit.gov.in/E-rural/recommendations.asp#4).
The Indian Prime Minister dialled 1551, the toll-free number of the call centre, and was greeted by the words “Jai Kisan” (Victory to the Farmer) and asked for his name and address. Thereafter the Prime Minister asked about the impact of Wednesday’s rains on crops, to which the call centre replied good, particularly for unirrigated areas. (Source: The Times of India, January 22, 2004, as quoted at http://www.kisancallcenter.net/PMs_call.htm. [ 1 Lancaster, John (2003): Village Kiosks Bridge India’s Digital Divide, Washington Post, October 12, Sunday, http://www.washingtonpost.com].