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Participants meeting to assess 'Mission 2007, Every Village a Knowledge Centre' discuss a number of issues ranging from using ICT to help tsunami-affected communities, to technologies available to make village knowledge centres viable
'Mission 2007, Every Village a Knowledge Centre', the initiative that aims to establish knowledge centres (KCs) in every Indian village by 2007, is well on track, concluded a meeting held to evaluate progress on the project. Participants noted several positive developments and acknowledged the proactive response from both government and private parties to the project.
While India's telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has announced a broadband policy, the Indian government recently committed to setting up 100,000 knowledge centres all over the country. Over 600,000 will have to be up and running in two years to meet Mission 2007's target.
The steering committee meeting of the National Alliance on Mission 2007 -- an informal forum of over a hundred multi-stakeholder organisations representing the government, private corporations and civil society -- held in New Delhi on February 1 also discussed observations and suggestions put forward by participants in an attempt to chart the initiative's future course of action.
India's minister of state for planning, M V Rajasekharan, focused on connecting rural areas of the country, as 70% of India's population live in rural areas. "Internet access and timely access to services is the key to the success of the project," he said, adding that there was a need for concessional funds from banks to enable local youth to set up knowledge centres.
Sukanya Rath, secretary-general of the National Alliance proposed the networking of villages on the east coast of the Indian peninsula. "This is essential for the disaster preparedness strategy," she said.
Presenting experiences from tsunami-affected areas in Tamil Nadu, Senthil Kumaran of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, demonstrated how technology can have a direct hand in saving the lives and livelihoods of people in coastal areas. He also emphasised the relevance of HAM radio as an effective tool in emergency communication.
Mahesh Uppal, director, Telecommunications and Computer Information Systems, proposed a plan to support the establishment of 100,000 knowledge centres. He pointed out that the government had committed Rs 100 crore annually for three years, which could be channelised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Uppal suggested that NABARD support 10,000 centres in the first year.
Ashok Jhunjhunwala of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, presented the technologies available to enable Mission 2007. He recommended that rural/niche service providers be allowed to build a 2 Mbps rural backbone, and suggested that TRAI/DOT reduce the fibre leasing charges for such a network by a factor of four. Spectrum towers could also be built in each taluk (regional sub-division) and be shared by service providers at a nominal lease amount. Spectrum charges for all technologies should be free or a maximum of 2% of total revenue, he said.
Dr Basheerhamad Shadrach of OneWorld South Asia proposed the setting up of a pressure group to initiate a dialogue with the government-run service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited for progressive rates, rather than the age-old ones, in the leasing out of cables, considering that the cost of laying optical cables had drastically reduced over the last couple of years.
Ashok Khosla of Development Alternatives sounded a note of caution amidst all the voices of optimism. He warned against the kiosk proliferation rate of 400% per annum, and proposed that the alliance look at 2008 to achieve its goals. He also suggested that the management of kiosks be coordinated by a social enterprise, with little public input except that of connectivity.
Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India informed the meeting about the regulator's efforts in this direction. "Tariffs have gone down and service providers are still making a profit because of the increased number of users. Rural areas are a huge opportunity. TRAI would further reduce the tariff for international bandwidth, domestic and lease lines," said Pradip Baijal, chairperson of the telecom regulator.
Vijayaditya of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) emphasised focusing on addressing the concerns of local people. "Proper marketing and financial systems need to be developed so that ICT supports the livelihoods of the local population. Then only would proposed kiosks be sustainable."
Source: OneWorld South Asia, February 2, 2005
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