Literacy No Bar

Perhaps the most talked about e-governance project in the country today, Gyandoot is a grass roots experiment in the tribal district of Dhar, Madhya Pradesh (MP). Aimed at empowering the rural masses through the use of IT, Gyandoot’s vision has exemplified the essence of e-governance. The project has 55,000 users availing of its facilities, a 3-5 % increase in farmers’ margins, increased computer literacy in the region, an award instituted in its name, and a model adopted not only by the state government but also by other states. 

Little wonder then, the project won the Stockholm Challenge IT Award in June 2000.

Situated in the south western corner of central India, Dhar has a population of over 1.7 million where 54 % are tribals and 60 % of the total population is below the poverty line. At the dawn of the new millennium, this district stepped into the digital world when the Madhya Pradesh government made a modest beginning in e-governance by launching Gyandoot. 

Gyandoot is a community-owned Intranet with local entrepreneurs running cyber cafes cum offices on commercial lines. The vision driving this project was to improve government processes as a result of which benefits would automatically accrue to villagers. Not only did it lead to transparency in government functioning but increased efficiency levels amongst officers as well. The electronic interaction eliminated corrupt officials and middlemen. The agricultural market, which stands at Rs 800 crore in the district, was largely controlled by traders and middlemen with a small percentage of the profits going to farmers.

Under this project, computers were initially installed in 20 village centers or Gram Panchayats in five blocks and connected through an intranet. These centers, called Soochanalayas, provide information to the masses about a range of issues related to their lives and easy access to government officials.

Villagers can avail of a variety of services offered through the network at costs varying from Rs 5 - Rs 15. They also get access to the prevailing and past rates of agricultural products at auction centers. Documents relating to land records including khasra (record of rights) are given on the spot, based on which banks have agreed to grant loans. Villagers can obtain certificates regarding income, caste, domicile, etc from the local revenue court and register public grievances online. There is an e-mail facility on the intranet; a village auction site, an online matrimonial site; information regarding government programs for rural development, loans and grants; experts answering queries, online application forms for various state departments, and a database of people below the poverty line. 

In order to increase the business viability of the soochaks or the local entrepreneurs, the government now allows them to vend government judicial stamps and has also given the powers of petition in writing.

The Soochanalayas have dial-up connectivity through local exchanges on optical fiber or UHF links. The centers are served from a Remote Access Server (RAS) located at the Zilla Panchayat computer room. Each center is equipped with a Pentium machine with multimedia capabilities, dot matrix printers, and a four-hour back up UPS system. A noteworthy aspect of the project is the application of Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) in the last mile where there are no telephone lines.

The Gyandoot Samiti, a registered society to support the project, has developed software to run the Intranet and various services. The software is menu driven and easy to use with the interface in Hindi. The software has an elaborate administration mechanism to monitor node activities and maintain the quality of services. The Government is in the process of replicating Gyandoot across the state. The success of this project spurred the development of educational applications.

An analysis of user profile, done by Gyandoot, has thrown up interesting data: A predominant number of users relate to the use of agriculture-related activities with 80% being 21-40 years of age. But there is a considerable number of users at 10 % in the 51 years plus category. While the gender is clearly tilted in favor of men at 84 %, only 16 % women access these services.

As the day progresses, there are a few enterprising women serving as Soochaks in the district. Shattering the myth that computers are a privilege to the educated lot, interestingly, seven percent of the users who are illiterates, are accessing the services. The gyan here is sure spreading fast.

Balaka Baruah Aggarwal CNS in New Delhi