Mahiti Mitra Centre at Dudhai, India
Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan

Improving Self Governance through ICTs in Kutch district of Gujarat. “Mahiti Mitra” – Setus or information kiosks

Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan (KNNA) is a network of 28 rural development voluntary organizations in the district of Kutch in Gujarat state in the western desert region of India. Having emerged from a natural calamity - the cyclone of 1998 – Abhiyan, as it is commonly known, (translates literally as Campaign) has been in the forefront of disaster management and coordination during the cyclones of 1998, 1999, drought of 2000, and the massive earthquake of 2001. This network has come together and an ambitious project has been drawn up to use information and communications technologies for development, and especially for improving local self governance.

The project envisages the creation of the Setu ICT kiosks by the Setu centres in their clusters, and developing the kiosk as a platform which enables the Gram Panchayat (local governance bodies at village level) bodies and Gram Sabhas to access the various ICT technology applications as also simple information tools and services from the kiosks in order to improve both their ability to self-govern and generate better development opportunities. Creating a close communication linkage between the Gram Panchayats and the district administration/Jilla Panchayat is also envisaged in the programme. (Setu refers to bridge, Gram Panchayats and Jilla Panchayats refer to local governance system at the village and district levels, and Gram Sabha refers to the gathering of the local governance bodies).

The scope of the coverage of this project in the western desert district of Kutch is 613 Panchayats covering 951 villages, of which 882 are inhabited villages. The campaign operates with a steering committee and governing body which guide the coordinating umbrella and the network. The coordinating umbrella reaches 360 villages and is engaged in activities like running a craft resource centre, the K link project, the Setu Centre projects for self-governance (information kiosks) and innovative building technologies and innovations programme. The network is engaged in advocacy, information dissemination, disaster response, relief, rehabilitation, training, drought proofing, etc, covering 450 villages,

The Project envisages Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as one critical element in an overall effort to build capacities of the Gram Panchayats for self-governance. Apart from the ICT intervention, the Setu centres are also involved in other kinds of training interventions. The vision to develop a sustaining, reliable, effective, and replicable model for e-self-governance in Kutch district is the driving force behind the project.

Project objectives

1. Deploy ICT as a tool for enhancing the efficiency and transparency of local self-governance
2. Use ICT to develop within PRIs an enhanced understanding and appreciation of their rights and responsibilities and enable informed decision-making in local self-governance and development
3. Provide digital networking of the remote areas to facilitate liasioning and two-way communication between PRI/Gramsabha and Jilla Panchayat (JP)/ external agencies/ NGOs
4. Develop capabilities of PRI and local communities for making effective use of ICT for their development planning including micro-level natural resource management
5. Build capacities of local communities to become meaningful partners in self e-governance initiatives

Stall at a village fair to create awareness
The geographical scope
Setu Programme currently covers 320 revenue villages and 60 hamlets in the Kutch District of Gujarat State. This project proposes to cover all the 380 villages currently under the Setus centres reaching 62,489 households.

The implementation approach and strategy
The network of organizations forming the Abhiyan follows the following principles in developing its approach and strategy:

1. Developing a Cluster approach for capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and self-governance
2. Building Capacities of the PRIs in both its Governance and Development functions.
3. Ensure the use of ICT not only for improving the governance of the State, but primarily for the smooth implementation of PR (Panchayati Raj), and empower the PRIs for self-governance
4. Building Public Private Partnerships for sustainability
5. ICT not as a technological end in itself but as an enabling intervention amongst many other interventions for building capacities of PRIs

Expected outcomes

1. Setting up of 18 Setu kiosks across 380 village clusters
2. Setting up a single window coordination centre for all Gram Panchayats with the Jilla Panchayat / District Development Officer (DDO).
3. Develop the K-Link hub with capacities to train, monitor, technically and technologically augment, trouble-shoot, and set up information management systems at the kiosk
4. At least 25% of the district’s Gram Panchayat members will be accessing the Setu kiosks for various services, and information.
5. At least 25% of the District’s Panchayats will be communicating with the DDO and Jilla Panchayat directly, and regularly, at least on a monthly basis, through the kiosks. Video-conferencing between Gram Panchayats (GP) and Jilla Panchayat (JP) would become feasible, functional, and regular in all the centers by the end of three years.
6. The project would have supported all the 18 clusters and their PRIs in undertaking resource mapping of their villages, and their clusters. And at least 30% of the PRIs would have translated their plans into developmental action in their villages through various schemes.
7. ICT application would be used by the GP and Gram Sabhas specifically to improve the livelihood status of the fishing community, salt pan workers, dry-land farmers, artisans (potters, weavers, block-printers), and ‘maldharis’-cattle herders in their villages.
8. All gram panchayats would have been information enabled to support widows in vulnerable conditions, the disabled, landless, and the very old with specific schemes and developmental programmes. The Project would have led at least 25 Group Gram Panchayats to set up their own village ICT initiative, computerize their administrative, and finance systems, computerize citizen services, and access information locally. The reason for the conservative estimate of the number of village level ‘kiosk’ is because gram panchayats, due to the low devolution in the Panchayat Act are yet a long way from functioning as a legitimate Gram Panchayat. Secondly, there is a very low literacy/education level in the area that the Setus will be concentrating in. Thus, literacy and computer literacy become additional capacity building inputs that the Setu centres will impart independently.
9. All Gram panchayats in the proposed clusters can access their records/forms applications through the kiosks in terms of hard copies, and will also be able to re-send where necessary.

Stall at a village fair to create awareness
Project progress
Two Setu Centres or Mahiti Mitras have been established in September/October 2004 in Adesar and Shamakhiyali villages, and have already started generating revenue. Infrastructure and hardware have been acquired for 7 new centres, and training activities have begun for these kiosk operators, elected representatives, etc. These cover the following areas:

• Training Rural Youth, as Para Cadre in Health, Education
• Disaster Preparedness
• Livelihood Groups
• Governance services at the Panchayat level, and support for these institutions
• Right to Information

The Stakeholders:
The Setu Mahiti-Mitra (kiosk) is being set up near bus stands/ tea shops which are centrally accessed by a cluster of villages. These spaces are being taken on rent. The thrust is building brand identity for these centres. The key stakeholders which are elected represented local governance bodies, specific livelihoods groups, farmers, artisans, fishing community, cattle breeders, salt pan workers etc., women and other collectives, students and children, local government functionaries, and NGOs in the cluster.


Exhibition and presentation at village fair
The services
The Mahiti Mitra services are focused on three key areas. The first set of services focuses on Governance. The second set of services has a thrust on Development. The third, but equally important set of services relates to creating an enabling environment at the village level. Few examples of Governance services includes computerization of accounts for the Panchayati Raj Institutions, application forms, certificates, land records, reporting, drafting and monitoring services data. Development focused services includes, among others, use of planning tools like (GIS, satellite imagery, etc.), information on output and inputs market, weather information, formulation of various developmental proposals, etc. The services that create an enabling environment include providing key skill and capacity building services and entertainment. This include a number of activities like computer classes, adult education classes, e-Newspapers, video games, music and cultural programmes, screening films, documentaries, scanning, photo facilities, etc. In all there are 32 different services that have been provided at these centres.

The current scenario
All the network clients are connected through the remote access server to the central network of K-link. Three servers are providing key services, viz., mail & proxy server, application & web server, and a database server The clients connect through a wirelessloop or PSTN lines to the main network, Wi-fi and WLL connectivity provides scope for district wide coverage. At the district panchayat level one staff has been dedicated to enable the e-government system, and to provide feedback on queries generated. This staff is also responsible for making government schemes and programmes converted to an easy access format to the elected local representatives of the Gram Sabha, and to coordinate with various government departments. The kiosk operators have been trained, and ICT penetration in rural areas has been achieved. What is encouraging is the capacity building activities that have already been undertaken have created new levels of empowerment to the local people.


Current Setu network scenario
New partnerships with external agencies have been forged with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Bangalore (C-DAC, Bangalore), for the development e-Forms (developing efficient ways to create forms and collect data); an information portal for buyers and sellers called ‘Vyapar’; and ‘ECHO’ Empowering Communities through Knowledge; and with Indian Space Research Organisation, Bangalore (ISRO, Bangalore).for the setting up of village resource centres to provide services like V-SAT connectivity, tele-medicine, tele-education, tele-agriculture, e-Services and a weather station. The K-link web portal provides mail services, employment news, help desk, a discussion board, announcement, world fact book and laws.

Partial roll outs have also taken place in Makhna, Dudhai, Lodai and Khambhara centres from July to September 2005.


Mahiti Mitra Centre at Lodhai
Challenges and issues being faced

• Network connectivity
• Lack of computer literacy and low education status in the community
• At the district administration level
  
  
  • Lack of computer literacy
  • Insufficient computerization
  • Inadequate e-Governance
  • Market rate updates are not available

Some Key Requirements of Users of the Setus

• Need to update ration cards
• Corruption related grievance communications
• Information regarding laws, procedures and legal mechanisms
• Revenue and land related information
• Government schemes and forms
• Panchayat’s queries regarding industrialization opportunities
• Students and disabled accessing entitlements
• Demand for computer education

The kind of responsiveness and demand as mentioned above makes the project progress look very positive in the Kutch district of Gujarat. ICTs have been used very innovatively and in response to people’s needs, identified through a detailed assessment process that involves the community, the local decision makers and the network of NGOs.

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