Vol. II: Shaping Information and Communication ... - IMA,ZLW & IfU

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GYANDOOT is a community-owned, self-sustainable rural Intranet project, which got
underway with the active involvement of the District Administration, the Zilla Panchayat and
the Government of Madhya Pradesh. The entire cost of the project has been borne by the local
governing body [Gram Panchayat] out of its own resources.
Through its network of 35 information centres, this intranet aims to provide manifold benefits
to nearly a million people spread across 311 Gram Panchayats and over 600 villages. The
villagers are able to access 15 different types of services, which include information about
Mandi (whole sale market) rates for crops, getting copies of land records, an electronic
grievance redress mechanism, e-mail services in the local language, ability to apply online or
download applications for assistance under government schemes, access to health records,
and several other services.
After its successful implementation and the extent of support it has garnered from the local
populace, it is now being replicated in several other districts of the State.
Implementation Strategy
The district administration of Dhar began planning the GYANDOOT project by identifying
village Panchayats that already had telephone connections. They then held meetings with
Panchayat members, young educated persons, and other opinion-makers in each village,
seeking to create a menu of services that would directly benefit rural citizens.
This ultimately led to the establishment of Soochanalayas - Internet Kiosks - in each Gram
Panchayat to provide commercial Internet and voice connectivity in the villages. These
Soochanalayas, equipped with a PC, Printer and UPS, are owned and managed by Soochaks,
or Kiosk Operators. Each Soochanalaya provides services to 15 Gram Panchayats and 25-30
villages.
Focusing on providing meaningful content to the villagers, Government information and
forms were put on the net, so that villagers could submit applications to the government
departments directly on the net. In the first year of the Gyandoot experiment, over 60,000 e-
mail complaints poured into the central server of the district administration at Dhar. Also,
inter-village communication was made possible and relevant applications were developed and
ported.
The internet kiosks provide a number of valuable services to the villagers such as current and
prevailing rates of prominent crops of the district; on-line registration and applications; on-