> Site Tours
> Features
> Off the Web
> Dr Know
> Celebrity Surfing
Web Logs
> Terror in America
Specials
> Best of Guide 2001
> Travel Guide
> Education Guide
> Email@30
TIPS to search 1
billion Web pages fast!
|
|
![[Four online projects take the power of the Internet to Indian villages]](06lead.gif)
Anita Bora
|
In a remote village of Madhya Pradesh, a farmer goes online to register a complaint about the quality of drinking water and check the scholarship status of his son. He receives a reply within seven days.
Elsewhere, a villager teaches a bunch of children the intricacies of using a computer and accessing the Internet.
And in another corner of the country, a group of village women tune into their favourite songs online.
The Internet is going rural in India. Slowly, but surely. Four projects, combining the collective might of state governments, NGOs and corporates, are taking cutting edge communications and information technology to Bharat. Gyandoot, Tarahaat, Information Village Research Project - all winners of the Stockholm Challenge Award and Greenstar are taking the first steps towards bridging the digital divide.
Rediff Guide to the Net takes a peek at how they are doing it.
Tarahaat
Gyandoot
Greenstar
Information Village Research Project
Tarahaat, the one stop village shop
The winner of the Stockholm Award for the year 2000, for 'Innovative applications of IT in the global village', TARAhaat is a project that connects villages to information, social services, healthy entertainment and markets, through a network of franchised cyber centres called TARAkendras. Information can be accessed in English, Punjabi and Hindi.
The project is being monitored by Development Alternatives, an NGO based in New Delhi. TARA (Technology and Action for Rural Advancement) is the marketing arm of the group.
It aims to bring the benefits of the Internet directly to the rural poor. According to the Web site, TARAhaat covers all three areas of rural connectivity: content, access and fulfilment.
Content is provided by the portal, TARAhaat.com. Access is provided through a network of franchised local enterprises; and delivery of information, goods and services is facilitated by courier services and vehicles called TARAvans.
The pilot phase of the project began in August 2000 in Jhansi, Bundelkhand - a region steeped in poverty and harsh living conditions. People can access the site through 20-odd TARAkendras, in two rural regions: Bathinda (one of the richest regions) and Bundelkhand (one of the poorest).
The site offers content on several issues, and data is added regularly. It includes market information, local yellow pages and details about products. Under 'channels' it covers, health, livelihood, schemes, law, governance, water and entertainment, while the 'services' section covers TARAmandi (market news), TARAdak (mail service), astrology, classifieds, bus services, discussions, chat and weather.
E-education could be a major revenue stream. The portal has begun delivering a basic computing course that combines classroom teaching and hands on computer practice. It includes education for girls (often not allowed to attend school); the physically challenged; and desktop publishing for enterprising franchisees.
All this comes at a price: A TARAkendra owner charges Rs 70 per hour, three times the rate for surfing in Mumbai.
How have these services changed the villagers' lifestyle?
Veerpal Kaur and Gurubhakt Singh, who had never seen a computer, are now learning to operate one at their village TARAkendra and are enjoying every bit of it. These stories are echoed by many youth in Bathinda and Bundelkhand.
Moreover, some young people download and print the evening's television programmes and posters of their favourite film stars. Women organise MP3 music sessions with Mumbai film songs for a half hour event at Rs 2 each, one of the cheapest forms of entertainment for them.
People in Lalitpur, the largest commodities trading centre of Bundelkhand, were surprised that they could get market information about their business at a TARAkendra. A young second-generation commodities trader of Delhi is quoted as saying: "With the farmer having market knowledge, business will get even more competitive." He's now expanding into real estate and rural cold storage facilities.
The other components of the project are TARAdhabas, kiosks run by local businessmen; and sister portal TARAbazaar.com where rural producers and manufacturers can sell their goods to distant clients.
And it doesn't end there. This report claims that TARAhaat will also "facilitate e-commerce with online shopping for products and services needed by rural households, farmers and industries -- from provisions, to appliances like TVs and fans to farm inputs and factory raw materials."
|
| Gyandoot: The Messenger of Information |
|