CYBER GRAMEEN
PROJECT
P.J.
Sudhakar*
Information Communication Technology
(ICT) at the grassroots level can be a significant and cost-effective
way of responding to the needs of large disadvantaged sections
of the Indian population. ICT can be the best answer to poverty,
injustice, illness, inequality, discrimination, exploitation and
hunger. The ICT can greatly help the rural poor meet their basic
needs and assert their fundamental rights.
Rural India with
its population of more than 700 million and a GDP of over Rs.6,00,000
crore is ripe for progress, representing enormous potential in
terms of economy and human resources. Rural connectivity is the
key to harnessing its resources. Suitably equipped, rural India
has the potential of being a catalyst in taking the country to
the forefront of powerful nations. The effort of the TeNet (Telecommunication
and Computer Networks) group of faculty members at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) at Chennai conceptualized the vision
of achieving connectivity in all Indian villages at the earliest.
In a major attempt
to bring the remote rural areas into information technology fold,
a rural broadband venture was launched at Venkatachallam village
in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh on January 17, 2003. "Cyber
Grameen" is an ambitious project set up by the Swarna Bharat
Trust, an NGO. It aims at an IT convergence hub in the heart of
rural India. The power of rural Internet broadband can be harnessed
through this project. The first Cyber Grameen Centre of India
set up at Venkatachallam village will provide a variety of applications
and services stimulating the village growth prospects and act
as a driver to the traditional projects currently being undertaken
by the Government and NGOs.
It provides telephony
services which are extremely low- cost alternatives to normal
telephone facility. It also provides the facility of telemedicine
which includes medical information, diagnostics and services from
reputed hospitals. It can be accessed at the village level itself.
The best of adult literacy, educational, information and training
programmes for farming techniques can be imparted through distance
learning. The high speed Internet broadband connectivity and multi-media
content can be provided at phenomenal speed. E-mail facility can
also be given in native languages.
This Cyber Grameen
Centre (CGC) provides agriculture and horticulture services that
emphasize on expert advice on crop protection, market facilities
and agriculture produce. The extensive insurance services under
it, especially in the areas of crop, cattle, medical and life
insurance, are worth mentioning. The rural folk will be accessible
to banking services like online deposits, withdrawals, demand
drafts, pass books and customer service. A convenient retail store
that will stock all essential commodities under one roof is an
added advantage.
The video conferencing
facility in this Centre indicates a two-way interactive isochronous
video and voice to facilitate easy communication between individuals.
The CGC offers the best of digital entertainment making it a hub
of community interaction. This project also helps in delivery
of government services and information to the public using electronic
delivery methods which facilitates electronic governance as in
the IT Act, 2000 enacted by Government of India.
The launch of
the CGC was itself an online feat with the Centre being inaugurated
by Shri Venkaiah Naidu, MP and a former Union Minister, at the
remote village of Venkatachallam with several Ministers including
Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Shri Ananth Kumar, and Smt. Sumitra Mahajan
sitting in New Delhi. They interacted with the Chief Minister
of Andhra Pradesh, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu from New Delhi through
video-conferencing facility.
The United India
Insurance Company Ltd. is associated with the First Cyber Grameen
Centre in India. The launching of the Centre is intended to facilitate
the rural India leap into the information age.(PIB Features)
*PRO (Defence),
Hyderabad
