Internet impact on Indian society

Vijay Roy, 25, who has not completed his schooling, belongs to refugee family settled with Sahriya tribes in Baran district of Rajasthan. Vijay is barely educated but passionate about learning new things. He does not believe in formal education, but he can do number of activities using internet on his mobile phone. While working with local NGO, Sankalp Foundation, he started exploring the opportunities of using wireless network and internet. The first thing, he explored was Google and YouTube, and gradually he started using various education content, video conferencing, entrepreneurial skill building and tele-health services. Soon, Vijay acquired skills of broadcasting community radio programmes on mobile phones. Through this way, Vijay has benefited at least 2,000 Sahariya tribes through community radio programmes. These programmes are majorly focused on labour rights, women rights, and entrepreneurial skill programme on Doosra Dhashak (11-19 years).

Information is great enabler not only for educated but also illiterate. This is also true for Sanjay Sahni, born in Ratnauli village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, is RTI (Right to Information) Activist. Studied till 7th standard is still making him the most educated among his parents and three siblings. 27-year-old former electrician, Sanjay Sahni was living with his family in Delhi and earning Rs.12,000 a month on an average. In 2011, one day, he logged on to the internet and Google with the help of his colleagues and the first thing he searched on Goggle was MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) Bihar. Clicking on a number of connected webpages, Sanjay reached a reached a webpage, where he could he easily search on job card holders of his villagers and information about what they all were paid. Since then, he started using internet for spreading awareness about MNREGA jobs. Using his mobile phone, he sends information seven panchayats (village clusters) across two blocks—Kurhani and Sakra. He is now agent of the internet and information, and helping people that can empower villagers with knowledge of their rights and get them jobs and access to opportunities.

Rakhi Paliwal, a 23-year old, is a Vice President of Upli-Oden panchayat in Rajsamand district in Rajasthan. Rakhi starts her day at 4 am in the morning daily riding her motorbike and catches women in the village who attempt to defecate in public. She is well versed with most of the 29 subjects of the panchayat and regularly updates her Facebook page and her Panchayat Facebook page using her smartphone. Presently, she has 259 friends on Facebook, and her latest update with picture and description in a favor of mobile governance at panchayat level. Always equipped with a dual SIM smartphone, she is always connected and checks mail, updates her status on the Facebook and also insists, “I would like to connect all our panchayats in Khamnore online and hope to bring website to each one of them.”

Kamal Jeet, employed with the Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (HAFED germinated the idea of advising farmers using mobile phones on the rice fields of Kaithal, Karnal and Kurukshetra.HAFED was only providing crop price information till the purchase centres; there was no mechanism to inform farmers directly—until Jeet hit upon one: a mobile phone-based information delivery system. To get around this, Jeet started a pilot by sending 15 farmers a message using Hindi words written in the Roman alphabet. It was instant reply from four farmers calling back them to receive more information.

This motivated Kamal to take it forward and few weeks later, along with few volunteers, he started Kisan Sanchar services by sending information to about 250 farmers attached to the government-run Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Kurukshetra, including the daily prices of basmati rice. For this purpose, they used simple featured mobile phones and started using the services of websites that provide bulk SMS facilities at 10-20 paise per SMS.In 2008, HAFED pulled out its funding and service hit roadblock. At this stage, Shrishti Gyan Kendra, a Rohtak-based non-governmental organization (NGO), stepped in with Rs 20,000, helping restart the service.

By 2009, around 4,500 farmers were receiving information on crop rates, crop diseases, agriculture subsidy schemes and issues related to farm animals. In May 2010, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) helped Jeet’s team develop a portal for the service. Kisan Sanchar has been transformed as a Social Enterprise, promoted by Sristi Gyan Kendra, and being incubated by Digital Empowerment Foundation and Vodafone India Foundation. The seed grant of Rs. 4 Lakh was released during Nov 2011 to implement the approved plan for expansion of Kisan Sanchar to become Self Sustainable Social enterprise in the interest of farming community in India.Kamal is also in the process of launching a scratch card. A farmer could buy it for Rs 50 and key in the code using his mobile phone to get linked to the system for a year. “This would streamline our revenue generation, help us reach farmers across the country”, says Kamal.
.

Ravi Ghate introduces himself as 12th standard pass, but 2nd year diploma failed. But his SMS-based Education & Employability based model has brought international acclaim for him. Ravi Ghate, a social entrepreneur changed the entire communication scenario of the world with the launch of local SMS Community Newsletter, SMSONE.The Newsletter uses the basic SMS text to deliver hyper local news in some of the remotest parts of the country. For this purpose, Ghate appointed unemployed youth in villages as his franchisee reporters. These reporters then go door-to-door for signing up the people for this service. Initially launched in Parbhani language and later on Hindi and English, this service was reaching to nearly 300 communities spread across 25 districts in the state. These days, the service is covering 700,000 houses and has 550 community leaders. And most importantly it has become a source of income for the rural youth, who call themselves ‘mobile’ journalists. They are paid Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 6,000 per month.

The service has been active for four years in Maharashtra and has now been launched in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra and Kerala. “Since incoming SMS is free, it doesn’t cost the subscribers anything. They receive around 10 messages a month on their phone informing them about local politics, crime, events and even the water and electricity situation,” says Ghate.

Raghav Mahto, 28 year old, hails from Vaishali district in Bihar. Only a second grade pass, Raghav Mahto was inspired by a cordless microphone and an FM radio transmitter. Raghav started the community FM radio using a 50 Rupees technology device that is serving the entire Mansoorpur village in his Vaishali District of Bihar as well as adjoining villages. He and his RJ (Radio Jockey) friend Sambhu started an innovative Rural FM service which enabled villagers and the local community to benefit from various services it offered. Mahato’s station was shut down by the authorities when they realized that he did not have a licence. After that, Raghav was repairing cars for his livelihoods.

With the help of DEF, Raghav Mahto came to Barefoot College (BFC), based in Tilonia village of Ajmer district, which was planning to set up its rural community radio with our assistance. We immediately connected Mahto to BFC, and it was an instant fit. He took charge of setting up a low-cost studio, making cheap FM radios, and putting together the digital infrastructure to run a station. These days, he is working in Guna district and working as a barefoot network engineer. For his entertainment, he is dependent on his Nokia phone for watching popular music videos and films on YouTube and continuously updates his Facebook page providing various information in relation to Right To Information Act, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act discussions and, of course, local culture and folk music. He is pleased to have seen Damini, a cult Hindi film of the 90s, on his mobile screen recently. Interestingly, this born innovator’s success story is now part of NCERT Class XII curriculum.

Muzaffar Ahmad Ansari better known as Kalley Bhai is the only tourist guide in Chanderi licensed by the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation. He is self-appointed fellow at Chanderi who is grassroots, author, writer, historian, precision handloom weaver, tourist guide, research, and development activist. For more than 20 years, Muzaffar Ansari has been dedicated towards retracing the history of Chanderi and rediscovering its lost significance. He has been promoting it not just as a tourist destination but also as a place of historical and cultural importance. With the introduction of wireless network services in Chanderi, Muzaffar uses his smartphone to update Chanderi Facebook page posting not only about Chanderi handloom but has also painstakingly documented each and every one of these structures to provide a comprehensive data source with details such as who it was constructed by, when and for what purpose.