Agriculture & Rural Development
Karnataka plans IT network in rural areas
June 20, 2008, iGovernment
The recently elected Karnataka government has decided to come out with a policy which intends to benefit rural areas of Karnataka. The Information Technology minister has hopes that IT investment in rural areas will create job opportunities and improve the standard of living. The government hopes to start IT training centres in villages in partnership with technology majors and the policy will also provide incentives to telecom players especially BPOs to set up shop in those areas so as to create employment opportunities.
Sikkim adopts GIS for poverty mapping
June 25, 2008, iGovernment
The Sikkim Government has taken the initiative in harnessing satellite based communication technologies to facilitate targeted development programs in the poorest gram panchayats. This will give a great fillip to the dissemination of information to the remotest areas of this mountainous state and it is hoped that this project will spur rural enterpreneurship and thus improve the economic condition of the poverty stricken areas.
BSNL unlikely to get more from USO fund
April 1, 2008, Thomas K Thomas, The Hindu Business Line
According to this news report, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has made clear that it will not give financial support to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) from the Universal Services Obligation (USO) fund for rolling out rural phones in lieu of abolishing access deficit charge (ADC). The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had suggested that the government should finance BSNL from the USO fund to offset any impact on the telecom from the removal of ADC.
Far from failure
February 2-15, 2008, Jayati Ghosh, Frontline
This essay accuses the 'corporate-controlled media' in India of attempting to trash the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) that has worked in favour of the rural poor. Instead of focusing on the lack of administrative capability in implementing the NREGP at the local level, which was the major concern of a recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the author says that the media tried to over low the issue of mis-utilisation of funds, of which the report mentions only tangentially.
Virtual education goes rural
November 27, 2007, H Chethana Gadiyar, Dataquest
This article focuses on the Nemmadi centres in Karnataka that train rural students to prepare for the highly competitive Common Entrance Tests (CETs). These centres are equipped with computers, VSAT and microphone making them virtual and interactive classrooms.
Assessment of impact of information technology on rural areas of India
The Swaminathan Research Foundation
This report prepared by the project implementors looks at the effect of information technology in rural communities by stydying a project involving ICTs in six villages in Pondicherry. In this exercise, village information centres were set up and local people were trained in operation of the system. Services offered by these centres included providing information about a diverse set of topics, from government schemes for the poor to input prices for farm products and even wave height data for use by fishermen.
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to fund innovations in telecom technology
December 26, 2007,Indiatimes Infotech
This news article reports that the DoT has decided to fund innovations in communication technologies developed by small companies, entrepreneurs, universities or NGOs. The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), where currently over Rs 10,000 crore lie unutilised, will be used for this purpose.
Use space technology and IT for rural development
December 2, 2007, Deccan Herald
The article focusses on the use of space technology for development in the rural sector. Along with geographical information services (GIS), such technologies can be effectively utilised to substantially improve the quality of services delivered by local bodies. The government commission appointed by the Prime Minister has studied the impact of these technologies both in the rural context in Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh as well as in Qatar in the Gulf.
ICTs for an ailing agriculture sector
September 2007, Ravi Gupta, I4donline
The agriculture sector in India is suffering from a number of issues which have resulted an alarming decline in the annual rate of growth of agricultural output in the last decade and a half. In this context, the article examines the potential of ICTs to improve the situation. It advocates the need to build an information network specifically tuned towards meeting the knowledge needs of farmers.
To do with the price of fish
May 10, 2007, The Economist
The Economist reviews a paper by Robert Jensen, a developmental economist at Harvard University, who found that use of mobile phones by fishermen in Kerala promoted economic activity. The article suggests that under the right state-provisioned regulatory environments, mobile phones are a sustainable way to empower local communities with information and contribute to growth.
