Commentary

A keyword found in most eulogies on e-Governance is "equity". As the magic of technology begins to unfold itself before dazzled eyes of many policy makers, hitherto seemingly insurmountable problems like gender and social discrimination seem just a click away from oblivion. And for good reasons! Technological innovations have shown that historical and structural anomalies can be tackled in real time. The stupendous success of Grameen Phone in Bangladesh has shown a skeptical world how access to simple technologies could radically correct social imbalances and help the disadvantaged (in this case poor rural women) to chart new trajectories in their economic and social lives. However, a quick review of policy frameworks and operational realities in India reveal that gender remains outside the core concerns of a highly techno-deterministic development paradigm. An interesting place to locate our arguments is the much-celebrated National E Governance Plan (NeGP). Heres a verbatim reproduction of NeGPs vision: "Make all government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency, and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man."

Though there is no denying the fact that ICTs can have profound implications for women in terms of employment, education, health, and livelihood, the exclusive nature of current ICT-driven development paradigms in many ways negate the emergent possibilities. Viewed through a historical lens, women were always disadvantaged relative to men in terms of their access to and ownership of modern technology. In the domain of ICTs and discourses on the knowledge society, a gender gap is perceived to exist for three basic reasonswomen are rarely consulted or involved in any need assessment of ICT-led initiatives; there exists a strongly entrenched attitude that technological choices are not comprehensible for women, with the result that most often than not they are treated as passive recipients than active promoters or producers of information; and the issue of locating access points like kiosks is still largely unaddressed. An astounding case is the location of a kiosk inside a temple is a celebrated case from south India!Policy in Place
All these factors point to the need to have an engendered ICT policy framework which would provide an affirmative direction to include gender concerns and realities in the wider sweep of e-Governance projects. Affirmative policy and regulatory frameworks need to be in place to address certain specific "barriers".

Social Exclusion: Unequal access to ICTs has created a new e-elite and an e-underclass. Not surprisingly, women seem to have fallen through the "Net". Given the ubiquitous presence of computers at the cutting edges of most e-Governance projects, low levels of literacy certainly prevent many poor women from reaping benefits

Domestication: A good number of social psychological researches into how people accept technologies show innovations that can be contextualized into personal everyday routines. Remember the unforgettable picture of a beaming 106-year old Rosakutty from Kerala as she took to computers to email her near ones?
Deficit of Trust: Seldom can a brand new technology driven process erase years of poor expectancy from an apathetic state. Where disempowered women are already engaged in a conflicting and contentious relationship with the state, it is highly unlikely that an electronic version will immediately bring in a new turnaround.

Transaction Costs: The switchover from any established mode of transaction with the state to a new form often encounters strong initial barriers like reluctance to deal with unfamiliarity, costs of finding new information, and possibly frustration in learning new methods.
Grassroot Initiative

A unique and inspiring story of womens empowerment through ICTs is unfolding in three talukas in Mysore district. Mahiti Manthana (knowledge processes) is an ongoing partnership between Mahila Samakhya (MS)an established grassroots initiative of the Government of India for empowering socially and economically disadvantaged women in rural areas through self help group activity and IT for Change (ITfC), a non-profit organization working in the domain of technology for social change. This pilot intervention is supported by the UNDP, Government of India, and COL-CEMCA. Mahiti Manthana employs a multi-pronged ICT strategy using video, radio, and telecenters. The project uses inexpensive, locally made videos which carry relevant, local, and contextual knowledge for sangha women. A remarkable institutional innovation in the project is the concept of sangha-shale (self help group classroom) to emphasize the point of a new independent and viable institutional form of learning for adult women, who may be largely illiterate, but have great thirst for knowledge and orientation to social and community issues.However, it is the projects community radio programKelu Sakhi ("Listen! My Friend)"that has proved to be a big hit among women. After an initial brief period of hand-holding, local women are now completely in charge of producing the episodes and anchoring the same. Through a mix of folk songs, live interviews, and discussions Kelu Sakhi is bringing in new awareness and critical information to the rural women. Till date, thirty-four weekly episodes have been transmitted through Kelu Sakhi; issues covered ranged from social problems like alcoholism and domestic violence to rights-based ones like equal wages, welfare entitlements, and access to critical public services.The third leg of this remarkable ICT-driven experiment is the telecenter. Owned and managed by the Sangha women, telecenters are secular public spaces primarily designed to strengthen community information processes and build new institutional linkages. The Mahiti Manthana telecenters are today providing basic information about government services and schemes, and also used as Right to Information (RTI) facilitation centers. RTI, if used appropriately by communities, is posed to become a major tool for obtaining rights and entitlements, and it is useful for the Mahila Samakhya Sanghas and federations to engage early with this empowering possibility.
ICTs can have profound implications for women in terms of employment, education, health, and livelihood provided they are enabled to reap
the benefits

Larger Lessons

Though designed and implemented in a very limited scale, the enabling narrative above points to some larger lessons that policy makers can take cognizance of:
Technology should aid and empower existing rooted structures that articulate and represent genuine concerns, aspirations, and priorities of women. The success of Mahiti Manthana rests on recognizing the legitimacy of the sanghas as representative forms of local women and then, subsequently integrating technological choices.n Selective use of the technological medium that relates to local ethos and sensibilities brings in rich dividends. Radio and video that capture local content are far more effective transmitters of knowledge and shared experiences than the text-heavy and literacy-dependent Internet.n Encourage local content production and gender sensitive pedagogies. Learner-centered knowledge, collaborative form of production, and use of diverse media helps in the production and dissemination of relevant content.n Perhaps the greatest lesson is the need to balance information rights with communication rights. The success of Kelu Sakhi is a direct reflection.Its time that regulatory and policy frameworks transcend conventional technology imperatives and look into gender specific realities and challenges. And inspiring examples like Mahiti Manthana reiterate the need for more commitment, political will, and affirmative actions.

Gopakumar K Thampi