Technology development from the heart of rural India
May 2006, Digital Opportunity Channel
A strong political mandate and international funding has converted drought-prone Baramati in central Maharashtra into an apparent showpiece for sustainable knowledge development in India. Annual conventions held at Baramati, which attract a wide range of international stakeholders, focus on using IT for social causes. A local IT college set up here actively works towards creating affordable IT enabled services, including market information for farmers, a computer on wheels for rural education, and increasing connectivity for providing governmental services. Critics point out that impacts are yet to be analysed, and scalability in areas with lesser political clout, and hence lesser funding, will be difficult. Nevertheless, the reality of Baramati moving so far ahead on its IT4RD (IT for Rural Development) outputs provides an interesting case study.