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![[Four online projects take the power of the Internet to Indian villages]](06lead.gif)
Anita Bora
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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
Greenstar aims to eliminate darkness in rural India
Greenstar's Web site sells scenic portraits, beautiful music, artwork and videos from small villages around the world.
The funds generated provide those village communities with solar power to connect to the Web, and run computers and health and education services.
Over the next few years, Greenstar aims to build 50 such solar-powered community and e-commerce centres in remote villages of India. The first is in Parvatapur, about 150 km from Hyderabad in southern India.
Here's how it works:
Greenstar employs a team of artists and teachers who work closely with the natives to record cultural elements of the village. The result is compiled as a form of 'digital culture' - music, artwork, poetry and other arts - that are then distributed in high-resolution format throughout the world, through the Web site.
Greenstar has already invested in self-contained, solar-powered community centres in Jamaica and Palestine. Each centre has Internet connections, health facilities like telemedicine, a classroom with distance learning equipment, and a business centre to enable e-commerce. The solar power serves many purposes, from preserving medicines to purifying water.
The project was started in Palestine and has now extended to Ghana and India. The director of Greenstar India, Rajeswari Rao Pingali, says that a series of discussions with village representatives kick-started their activities. "They were sceptical since it was a new concept, but it was not difficult to convince them. We explained what we wanted to do and asked for partnership and not passive participation."
The Greenstar site has detailed FAQs about the facilities, the e-commerce component, the companies backing the project and also on the Indian initiative.
A significant amount of manpower and coordination is required for a project of this size and scope. Pingali says, "At the local level we have the NGO that facilitates the project, and I have been looking after the networking and partnership issues at the national and state level." At the international level, colleagues from Greenstar make the necessary connections for further development.
The response is still very limited, and "it takes a long time for the initiative to become an integral part of rural living." But Pingali is satisfied that the foundation has been laid: "Some children are learning computers right now - mainly child labourers and those whose parents have migrated."
She admits, "We need to build information technology as an integral part of rural development in government and non-government efforts." Greenstar plans to expand to other parts of rural India. She feels the the movement will "eliminate the darkness of economic despair."
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| Information Village Research Project, Pondicherry |
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