Science Congress highlights India's e-governance success

["Irfan Khan" <khania2@super.net.pk>]

Science Congress highlights India's e-governance success

Judging by the ways in which information technology is being used in 
villages, the 'e-future' of rural India looks bright
 

The 90th Indian Science Congress, held in Bangalore recently, 
highlighted various success stories in the fields of information 
technology and e-governance, especially in rural areas.

Veerampattinam, a village near Pondicherry, was once known for its 
traditional temple car festival. Of late, however, it is the use of 
technology by its women that is making the village famous.

Before the men venture out into the choppy Bay of Bengal, known for 
its unpredictability, the women of the village are at a computer 
logging onto the US Navy's public website. Trained personnel download 
ocean wave data, which is then narrowcast over a public address 
system.

Illiterate women have taken to information technology like fish to 
water, says agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, whose Chennai-
based research foundation introduced Veerampattinam to this unique 
information system.

In Melur, near Madurai, the Tamil Nadu government's rural access to 
service through the Internet has brought about an e-revolution of 
sorts. Public call office (PCO) kiosks here are equipped with a 
personal computer, multimedia kit, web camera, and audio system. They 
even have power backup.

Some 300 interlinked villages in Tamil Nadu are able to 
electronically share data on crops and cattle diseases. When in need, 
village elders can even take part in a panchayat videoconference. 
"There are related adult education programmes and people are feeling 
empowered," says Mahalingam, executive vice-president of Tata 
Consultancy Services.

Initiatives such as these can even cut through red tape, says 
Mahalingam, giving the example of the grassroots computerisation 
drive in Andhra Pradesh, where legal documents, files and officers' 
promises to complainants go online. That means all action taken at 
the local-level office goes on record.

"Government operates on the principle of precedence," Mahalingam 
says. So, positive moves that have gone online are there for everyone 
to see. Senior officers and even the chief minister has access to the 
information.

Kiran Karnik, president of NASSCOM, and former head of Discovery 
channel noted that although television was largely known for its 
`time-pass' programmes, it could be a powerful tool for ushering in 
modernity. "I mean not in fashion, but in thinking patterns."

Karnik talked about successful community experiments dating back two 
decades, using satellite-aided television programmes that shared 
information about agriculture and healthcare. For instance, the Kheda 
community project taught us how to empower women and help them 
surmount caste barriers, he noted.

"In Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh), TV is used in an interactive way," said 
Karnik. "There is one-way TV with two-way audio, aiding education, 
overcoming knowledge gaps," he explained. "In Andhra Pradesh, video 
and computer technology are together used for education," Karnik 
continued.

Telemedicine links between Tripura and Kolkata and the Andaman and 
Nicobar Islands and Chennai have cut patients' travel expenses and 
ensured quality medical advice.

Then there are fishermen in Kerala who use cellphones to check bulk 
prices at different markets, and farmers who download crop prices and 
weather data.

Source: newindpress.com, January 20, 2003 

http://www.infochangeindia.org/ItanddItop.jsp?section_idv=9#1917