Reaching the Last Mile - Taking IT to Farm Families

Two months ago MANAGE had taken up an innovative project of installing computer systems along with Internet connectivity at 10 villages in the Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh. The systems were installed at the office of the Sneha MACTCS (Mutually Aided Credit and Thrift Cooperative Society) managed by Women's Groups at Medchal, Maheshwaram, Ghatkesar, Keesara, Sameerpet, Godhumkunta, Ibrahimpatnam, Hayathnagar, Parvathapur and Chevella.

A group of four women volunteers  were trained by the IT facilitator from MANAGE for 2 weeks in operation of MS-Office and Internet at each of the 10 villages. One tailor-made banking system software was also developed and loaded at these sites. The women groups are very enthusiastic in accepting the technology. They are browsing the net to read Telugu newspapers _ Vaartha, Eenadu and also to see the weather information, agriculture related information and information on market prices. They also visit other websites to know more about health, sanitation, child care and nutrition. They also browse the district and state web sites (which are maintained in Telugu) to have better knowledge about government programmes and schemes. At one of the villages the women have enrolled their children for IT awareness course, on payment basis. The IT facilitators of MANAGE who are deployed at the project sites for initial hand holding for six months period are flooded with the requests for training. Ms. Deepkala and Mrs. Vara Lakshmi of Sneha MACTCS Medchal made PowerPoint presentations to Mr. James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank on November 9, 2000. They also made a presentation to the President of India Mr. K.R. Narayanan and Union Railway Minister Mrs. Mamatha Banerjee.

On January 04, 2001, Mrs. Sandhya Rani of Ghatkesar made a powerpoint presentation to Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu and Home Minister Mr. T. Devendar Goud. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh was pleasantly surprised at the silent IT revolution taking place at these village. "Wow it is already happening here" were his comments when he saw a group of women learning pickle making through a CD.

The project has been highly successful in creating IT awareness at the village level. The maintenance issues have been well taken care of with the help of the telephone support. The deployment of IT Facilitators (fully conversant with the local language) is highly appreciated by the farmers and farm families to help them make use of IT at the village level. On the request of these women groups MANAGE has also developed software for hosting Rythu Bazar prices on its web sites. The prices are collected at two Rythu Bazars in Hyderabad and updated on a daily basis. The project is conceptualized by Director General, MANAGE and is being implemented by IT Division of MANAGE Mrs. Renuka Rani, Research Associate is coordinating the field activities.