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IT messenger ushers in new era in Rajasthan villages

By Lola Nayar, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Apr 4 (IANS) A new messenger has arrived in the villages around
the popular tourist hub of Jaipur in Rajasthan and is changing lives
forever.

This IT-enabled messenger called 'Gramdoot' is slowly altering lifestyles in
as many as 413 out of 488 villages of Jaipur district.

Now farmers in far-flung villages are able to keep abreast of market trends
on a day-to-day basis. And the IT link is slowly taking the place of village
elders in arranging marriage alliances.

Besides facilitating shopping and selling online, the IT link is also
bringing satellite TV channels into homes, enabling easy contact with
relatives and friends and, most importantly, getting easy access to
government departments for complaints and getting work done without paying
any bribe, say villagers.

Heralding this change is Aksh Broadband Ltd., a group company of optic fibre
manufacturing major Aksh Optifibre Ltd., which has been linking Jaipur
villages with aerial cable to provide digital connectivity through Gramdoot
kiosks.

Rural IT connectivity for providing e-governance may not be a new thing in
India, but the Aksh Broadband venture is very different from the other
models, said Sudhansh Pant, the district magistrate of Jaipur.

"It is a very useful project which provides tools for e-governance with no
cost to the government. Instead people, even in remote villages, are getting
connected to the administration and cutting down on the tedium of getting
their problems addressed," Pant told IANS during a visit here.

While some other companies like n-Logue Communications have arrived on the
scene in Jaipur to provide competition, Pant feels Aksh kiosks are different
in that they look beyond e-governance and marketing tools to provide a
multidimensional communication network at affordable rates.

"Given the benefit to the people and administration through this means, we
are acting as a facilitator. To keep our commitment, we begin the week with
a review of the work done and issues that need to be addressed at the
district level," said Pant.

In just a few months of starting commercial operations, hundreds of Aksh
kiosks spread across Jaipur district have started making a difference,
generating increasing usage by villagers, many of whom till recently were
unaware of IT communications, said Rajneesh Bhandari, president of Aksh
Broadband Ltd.

"Through our hub head at Jaipur we are helping the kiosks to provide a range
of services right from telephone facilities to Internet facilities, computer
education, e-governance and satellite cable connection," Bhandari told IANS.

What is making the service more attractive is the affordability and
convenience it provides villagers.

"From getting land records from the district collectorate to bringing their
complaints about water and other problems to the notice of the district
administration, villagers have stated using our services," said Arvind Labhi
of Chaksu, 55 km from Jaipur.

A postgraduate with basic training in computers, 24-year-old Labhi is one of
413 young entrepreneurs either engaged on a commission basis or employed by
Aksh Broadband.

Labhi is among those who have invested his own money to set up a kiosk. His
lies in the heart of the Chaksu marketplace and serves a population of
18,000 people.

From helping people get their land records without bribing any intermediary
to providing computer horoscopes, matrimonial advertisements, satellite
channel connections for Rs.125 a month, computer education, teleconferencing
and links to wholesale markets, Labhi's kiosk has become an invaluable
bridge.

"At least 20-25 people come everyday to use our services for a nominal fee,"
said Suraj Devinder, a 30-year-old man who operates a kiosk in Dabri Rampura
village, 40 km from Jaipur city.

The encouraging response in just a few months has made Devinder plan ahead
to add new features to his services that provide digital connectivity to
7,000 people in four villages.

"In the initial stage, out of 290,000 people in our district 250,000 will be
connected by Aksh kiosks. Covering an area of 11,000 square kilometres, it
is the largest rural connectivity in the country and an outstanding example
of sustainable development that can be replicated in other areas," claimed
district magistrate Pant.

Another attractive feature is the employment it is creating for young people
like Labhi and Davinder who have not only been able to generate income for
themselves but also provide jobs to at least one other person.

The Aksh model has been attracting considerable interest not only within
Rajasthan but other states like Haryana and developing countries like
Mauritius and Senegal, which have sent officials for live demonstrations.

--Indo-Asian News Service