DIGITAL DIVID+End: The Messenger of Knowledge

"Sreyan dravyamayad yajnaj jnanajajna partamtapa

sarvam karma ’khilam Partha jnane parisamapyate"

verse 33, Ch. IV (Jnanayogah), Bhagvad Gita

[…all work without exception culminates in knowledge]

When Ramdin Chacha took to a cellphone—nicknamed buzzerbattoo if you recall—not many of his fellow village-folks were surprised. Since his youth, Ramdin Chacha has always been different. He actively participated in the Eid celebrations, not much to the liking of the village priest. Yet, the same priest was dumbfounded when faced with Chacha’s knowledge of the Gita and Upanishads. The way he quoted slokas from the Gita and used them to understand and solve daily problems of the people was well beyond the understanding of ordinary men. He always encouraged people not to accept anything at face value, without satisfying themselves first.

Knowledge, Chacha says, is the first step to being enlightened. That is the way great Upanishads say. "All Upanishads", he would tell an ever-attentive audience in his weekly village get-together, "are actually questions and answers between teachers and disciples. All through the Upanishads, the teacher encourages disciples to ask questions. And only through that great quest for knowledge by a few inquisitive people, has the human race progressed". Here Chacha starts with the example of ‘Prasna Upanishad’ where Mahrishi Yajnabalkya answers questions of his disciples and ‘Katha Upanishad’ where Yama himself answers questions of Nachiketa about things beyond death.

And Chacha goes on to end with the example of Sir Isaac Newton, whose simple quest resulted in the discovery of the gravitational force. "East or west, the true seekers of knowledge are the world’s greatest army devoted to good work", he says. "And that is the teaching of Hindu Dharma, too", he emphasizes, "including tolerance and not hatred towards other faiths".

Since the last few months, Chacha has been preoccupied with new thoughts. He has been reading about ‘distance learning’ offering the possibility of a person receiving education sitting at home, almost about anything under the sun. No wonder, he has been excited. Chacha has always believed that Ramu, the seven-year-old son of his neighbor Kishen, is capable of becoming a scientist. Ramu is so intelligent. But, will he ever get the kind of education he requires for his early development? Chacha used to worry about this. Now, that problem does not appear to be a problem anymore, thanks to technology—another love of Chacha.

Just a few years back, he had to travel so many times to Rampur, the nearby town, to convince the telefoon department to give a phone to his village. He had almost given up hope, when the cellular salesman visiting his village gave him his buzzerbattoo calling it a cordless phone. Life has never been the same for Chacha or, for that matter, his village Chust Rampur (earlier called Sust Rampur). He has started believing more in the power of technology. The arrival of Internet and distance learning, tele-medicine and what not, have further helped change things.

And now that he has heard about "Gyandoot", Chacha has found true hope for the Ramus of not only his village, but the entire nation. Let us listen to Chacha’s thoughts:

"Gyandoot" Project (Madhya Pradesh)

Gyandoot was launched in Dhar District in January 2000. Dhar or Dharanagari of the legendary King Bhoj, is the soya and cotton belt of Malwa & Nimar and boasts of a rich wealth of arts, flourishing soya markets and Pithampur, the largest industrial estate, of Madhya Pradesh. Dhar handles agricultural commodities worth Rs 4 billion, principally soya, cotton and wheat. Dhar District has a population of 1.7 million, with 54 percent being tribal and 65 percent of families living below poverty line.

Gyandoot project uses an intranet and a web site connecting rural cybercafes catering to everyday needs of the masses. The project involved setting up of information kiosks called Soochanalaya, initially implemented in thirty-three villages and soon to reach seventy-five, all wired on intranet. The first twenty-one were set up with the help of the panchayat, the next twelve were set up with the help of private entrepreneurs. The important thing was that the expenditure of Rs 2.5 million was borne by the Village Committee (panchayat) and entrepreneurs, and not by the government. Average cost per café or kiosk is around Rs 60,000 for which banks have agreed to offer loans. So far, there are believed to be over 40,000 users.

The kiosks are located in Gram Panchayats either at block headquarters or prominent villages on highways (bus stops) or haat bazaars (weekly markets), each catering to twenty-five to thirty villages (a population of 30,000 approximately). These are managed by rural youth entrepreneurs, who run these cybercafes-cum-cyberoffices on commercial basis, pay Rs 5,000 as license fee per year to the District Council, and look after day-to-day management of server/system locally (under a three year MoU). Annual revenue is expected to be Rs 45,000. They have started earning extra revenue through innovative applications like horoscopes (Rs 50 each).

Services Offered Include

Agriculture produce auction (Rs 5) with opening/closing rates of about thirty-four commodities (middlemen removed).
Land records at Rs 15 per information (no more harassment by patwari). Earlier, people had to run to district headquarters which led to wasting time and precious earnings. Nearly, about two lakh farmers require it during two agriculture seasons every year to obtain loans.
Online Public Grievance Redressal (Shikayat Nivaran).
Online Registration: certification for income/caste/domicile/loan-passbook (Rs 10). Readiness is informed by e-mail, and then
collection is done from the court.
Net supported health services.
Gaon ka bazaar: Village Auction Site: for land, agriculture machinery, cows/bullocks, etc. (middlemen eliminated).
Rural e-mail, e-news, information on over 100 government programs for rural development.
Vaivahiki/Vivah Sambandh: Matrimonial service.
Loan Project Preparation.
Salahkar: Career Counseling, ask-the-expert, free e-mail on social issues.
Online Employment Exchange.
Local Weather Report.
"Right to information-Citizen Charter" put on intranet to achieve transparency.

Key Requirements

Availability of telecom infrastructure is critical and the project was implemented only where OFC reached. Intranet covers only five out of the thirteen developed blocks and three out of the seven revenue Tehsils in the district. Leased lines/VSATs are considered expensive from affordability angle.

Gyandoot project has attracted worldwide attention and has been awarded Stockholm Challenge IT Award 2000. Other gains include education (computer institutes have gone up by 60 percent), e-learning project being implemented with networking of thirty-four High Schools and changed political allocation of resources. Now other governments are planning to replicate similar projects to remove ‘digital divide’.

Web site: http://www.gyandoot.net/

The Call of Gyandoot