The Broadband Village : Andhra Pradesh's Grand Plan

Bigzero · Dec 21st, 2004, 13:22

Think of a high tech Indian village two years down the line.

- A village where everyone has easy access to information on agriculture, education, drinking water, electricity and health.
- A village where farmers get latest updates on market prices, cropping pattern and weather forecast at a finger-touch.
- A village where quality inputs on seeds, fertilisers and pesticides are regularly supplied to farmers.
- A village where families can access their children's examination results on computers.
- A village where everyone has access to all government forms and copies of land records.
- A village where your electricity, telephone and water bills are accepted electronically.
- A village where one person in every family knows how to handle the computer.

Can all these things happen in a poor Indian village?

Yes.

Read on.... full article

samesamebutdifferent · Dec 22nd, 2004, 00:41

...surely.
should read more like 'the world home computer market is projected for 100% growth in the next few years. thanks to the relativley untapped markets of china and india'.
this new village sounds like an abloutely ideal place for dell, intel, microsoft,yahoo etc to peddle their wares.
its transparent market creation. which isnt a bad thing as such only when it comes under the guise of 'social policy'.
one of the most ridiculous things ive seen in ages...

indiamike · Dec 22nd, 2004, 01:12

Great I can see it now....I will finally find some untouched remote little village in India and think that I have come across the real India when someone will approach me and ask "is there any other Paris Hilton videos out there?"

Yeah I remember when I first got access to the web the first thing I did was look up information on agriculture, education, drinking water, electricity and health.

Puh lease.....

Krishnika · Dec 22nd, 2004, 02:54

There's a very recent thread dealing with ideas about the real India. why not have chat rooms between villages?

crvlvr · Dec 22nd, 2004, 06:07

yeah.. yeah.. more promises from politicians..

Mandsaur · Dec 22nd, 2004, 07:45

Maybe instead they should focus on getting consistant clean water supplies, reliable electricity, and schools where the teachers turn up every day. I think that would improve life in the average village much more than being able to "get latest updates on market prices, cropping pattern and weather forecast at a finger-touch."

Bigzero · Dec 22nd, 2004, 10:04

chandrababu naidu ( Ex CM ) was accused of being too IT-MNC-City Centric, and the New CM, who came in with grand plans for the rural sector like free power etc, is charting a completely new course! imagine the money involved.

beach · Dec 22nd, 2004, 12:56

It’s funny that majority of Microsoft programs are made in India but India is all set to use Linux. As a policy it’s not wise to have the information infrastructure linked to any specific company.

Indian President Abdul Kalam is openly a Linux man. In some recent public gathering he asked the school children to do a small project. Write 10 advantages of Linux and email to him!

TCS made a program that work in any old PCs. All the junk & discarded PCs were used effectively in adult literacy programs. Why should it be discarded if still there is a use for it?

Even there is a Simputer (Simple computer !) made in Bangalore to bridge the digital divide.. This is a palm top computer for the villages. www.simputer.org

There is a village ((Chamravattom) in Kerala with every family computer literate. This was a pilot project and there are programs going on to repeat this at district level and finally at the state level.

This is in same line with how the state has gone 100% literate . First a small village was selected and implemented the program. Then it was done at a district level (Kottayam)

Also there was a similar program in the state toe make it Baby-Friendly state.

This has something to do with discarding the artificial baby food and making the baby care more natural. Breast feeding promoted and the synthetic foods are discouraged.

Hospital after hospital were declared Baby-Friendly when they comply with the norms. And in the beginning of 2002 Pathanamthitta in the south Kerala became the first district to became 100% Baby-Friendly in the state state. By the end of the year the state was declared Baby-Friendly.

The result shows. This is the only state in India where the female population is more than the male!

The success of all these were that the programs were by and large decentralized. The government has mostly had the role of a patron then the implementation.

Imagine all this is happening at a tiny state with no or little power whatsoever in a gigantic federal muscle flexing show.

Bigzero · Dec 22nd, 2004, 13:07

one possible advantage of the proposed scheme in AP is that farmers could possibly avoid middlemen to purchase and sell. this could actually make business easier.

as of now, farmers, at least most of the smaller-scale ones, are at one end of a long string of middlemen till it reaches the consumer. the string cannot perhaps be eliminated, it can at least be shortened.

it can work, but one has seen too many large government schemes where the money seeps out through various channels before it is spent for what it is intended for.

beach · Dec 22nd, 2004, 13:10

There is already a 'call centre' started for villagers

. A news item was there somewhere....

Dec 21st, 2004, 13:22	#1
Bigzero back to my old ways Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 1,444	The Broadband Village : Andhra Pradesh's Grand Plan Think of a high tech Indian village two years down the line. - A village where everyone has easy access to information on agriculture, education, drinking water, electricity and health. - A village where farmers get latest updates on market prices, cropping pattern and weather forecast at a finger-touch. - A village where quality inputs on seeds, fertilisers and pesticides are regularly supplied to farmers. - A village where families can access their children's examination results on computers. - A village where everyone has access to all government forms and copies of land records. - A village where your electricity, telephone and water bills are accepted electronically. - A village where one person in every family knows how to handle the computer. Can all these things happen in a poor Indian village? Yes. Read on.... full article __________________ miles to go.... Bigzero's Photo Gallery

Dec 22nd, 2004, 00:41	#2
samesamebutdifferent Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: norwich Posts: 10	is this a p1ss take? ...surely. should read more like 'the world home computer market is projected for 100% growth in the next few years. thanks to the relativley untapped markets of china and india'. this new village sounds like an abloutely ideal place for dell, intel, microsoft,yahoo etc to peddle their wares. its transparent market creation. which isnt a bad thing as such only when it comes under the guise of 'social policy'. one of the most ridiculous things ive seen in ages...

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Dec 22nd, 2004, 01:12	#3
indiamike Retired Admin Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: New Joisey for now Posts: 1,760	Great I can see it now....I will finally find some untouched remote little village in India and think that I have come across the real India when someone will approach me and ask "is there any other Paris Hilton videos out there?" Yeah I remember when I first got access to the web the first thing I did was look up information on agriculture, education, drinking water, electricity and health. Puh lease.....

Dec 22nd, 2004, 02:54	#4
Krishnika taking a break Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NYC Posts: 233	There's a very recent thread dealing with ideas about the real India. why not have chat rooms between villages?

Dec 22nd, 2004, 06:07	#5
crvlvr Guru Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Hollywood Posts: 4,413	yeah.. yeah.. more promises from politicians..

Dec 22nd, 2004, 07:45	#6
Mandsaur Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: New York, NY Posts: 140	Maybe instead they should focus on getting consistant clean water supplies, reliable electricity, and schools where the teachers turn up every day. I think that would improve life in the average village much more than being able to "get latest updates on market prices, cropping pattern and weather forecast at a finger-touch."

Dec 22nd, 2004, 10:04	#7
Bigzero back to my old ways Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 1,444	chandrababu naidu ( Ex CM ) was accused of being too IT-MNC-City Centric, and the New CM, who came in with grand plans for the rural sector like free power etc, is charting a completely new course! imagine the money involved.

Dec 22nd, 2004, 12:56	#8
beach Lost in translation Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: India ! Posts: 2,232	It’s funny that majority of Microsoft programs are made in India but India is all set to use Linux. As a policy it’s not wise to have the information infrastructure linked to any specific company. Indian President Abdul Kalam is openly a Linux man. In some recent public gathering he asked the school children to do a small project. Write 10 advantages of Linux and email to him! TCS made a program that work in any old PCs. All the junk & discarded PCs were used effectively in adult literacy programs. Why should it be discarded if still there is a use for it? Even there is a Simputer (Simple computer !) made in Bangalore to bridge the digital divide.. This is a palm top computer for the villages. www.simputer.org There is a village ((Chamravattom) in Kerala with every family computer literate. This was a pilot project and there are programs going on to repeat this at district level and finally at the state level. This is in same line with how the state has gone 100% literate . First a small village was selected and implemented the program. Then it was done at a district level (Kottayam) Also there was a similar program in the state toe make it Baby-Friendly state. This has something to do with discarding the artificial baby food and making the baby care more natural. Breast feeding promoted and the synthetic foods are discouraged. Hospital after hospital were declared Baby-Friendly when they comply with the norms. And in the beginning of 2002 Pathanamthitta in the south Kerala became the first district to became 100% Baby-Friendly in the state state. By the end of the year the state was declared Baby-Friendly. The result shows. This is the only state in India where the female population is more than the male! The success of all these were that the programs were by and large decentralized. The government has mostly had the role of a patron then the implementation. Imagine all this is happening at a tiny state with no or little power whatsoever in a gigantic federal muscle flexing show.

Dec 22nd, 2004, 13:07	#9
Bigzero back to my old ways Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 1,444	one possible advantage of the proposed scheme in AP is that farmers could possibly avoid middlemen to purchase and sell. this could actually make business easier. as of now, farmers, at least most of the smaller-scale ones, are at one end of a long string of middlemen till it reaches the consumer. the string cannot perhaps be eliminated, it can at least be shortened. it can work, but one has seen too many large government schemes where the money seeps out through various channels before it is spent for what it is intended for.

Dec 22nd, 2004, 13:10	#10
beach Lost in translation Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: India ! Posts: 2,232	There is already a 'call centre' started for villagers . A news item was there somewhere....

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