6 crore rural citizens to become digitally literate in 3 years
As the Indian Government took the path towards a more tech savvy India, it became one of the biggest adopters of IT. To step a notch ahead of others, many actions were taken in a bid to develop the rural areas as well. To comprehend the government’s IT in
Afew years ago, India set its foot on the journey to revolutionize its governmental services by taking a turn towards e-Governance. In only two years time, the journey of e-Governance initiatives has crossed miles. The successful implementation of many e-Governance projects across the country have given a powerful thrust which was required to ensure the promotion of inclusive growth that covers electronic services, products, devices and job opportunities.
In order to make this IT based dream come true, many new departments were set-up after the government’s decision to transform the nation digitally. Out of the many departments which are working to serve the purpose of the Digital India Programme, CSC e-Gov Services
We have already trained about 54 lakh people and we have started to work on our target to train 6 crore citizens in the coming two and a half year’s time. So in no time, 6 crore people in rural India will become digitally literate —Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, CEO, CSC e-Gov Services India
Department is one such department which works to deliver ICT enabled governmental, financial, social, and private sector services to citizens in the rural areas. CSCs (Common Services Centres) are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villagers, thereby contributing to digital and financial inclusive society.
More than delivery points, CSC builds rural livelihood and promotes entrepreneurship in such rural areas. However, with power comes great responsibility and there is no easy way to accomplish a goal without facing hurdles. Dr. Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, CEO of CSC e-Gov Services shared some of the challenges commonly faced by the scheme, “Common Services Centre scheme enables rural enterprise through the use of ICT. Whatever challenges the rural enterprise faces, they become a challenge for CSC scheme. These rural enterprises face different challenges such as the ability to create an enterprise and bring together the entrepreneurial skills. Second is the quality of connectivity. There are some areas where connectivity still has a long way to go. Some areas use data card but some are yet to even involve in this development.”
KEY CHALLENGES IN RURAL AREAS
To overcome these challenges, CSC is training people and upgrading their skills. Through this practice, people are now becoming capable to deliver better services to their community along with their personal skill development. In some rural pockets, power is an issue but the department has found out a mechanism of using laptops which have power back-up of four hours. These laptops help in acting as power back-ups for various purposes. Thus, having 2-3 laptops in the same customer community plays a very helpful part there.
One of the components of Digital India is to create access point. What CSC does is that it deals with creating these access points where citizens can avail G2C and B2C services. The department’s focus is based upon creating these enterprises in every panchayat. Till now, the total number of CSCs created has reached 280,000 in the whole country, out of which some are in urban areas. “We now have 250,000 CSCs with minimum one in every panchayat. If a panchayat is big in size, then even more than one CSCs are created there. About 50,000 panchayats are yet to be implemented with CSCs. The main reason why these panchayats are left out is the availability of connectivity. Our whole value proportion and format is based on connectivity; therefore, without it or with poor quality of connectivity, we still struggle to establish a CSC” said Dr. Tyagi.
It should be noticed that the computing infrastructure in all these 280,000 CSCs is born by the entrepreneur himself and it varies depending on his ability to generate business. There is no involvement of panchayat or the government in this. He bears his own cost, upgrades his structure depending upon his skills and abilities. Based on the ability of the enterprise and the will to generate business, there are computers given varying from 5-50 in one enterprise.
ROLE OF DIGITAL INDIA EMPOWERING CSC E- GOV
As a number of Digital India initiatives are making the
We have trained banjaras (nomads) in Rajasthan to become digitally savvy. The ability to learn in a 65 years old woman in Chhattisgarh who runs a ration shop, runs it with the help of an android phone. She as well believes that if she can learn then anybody can. We have actually started an online course in Tamil Nadu where you can learn to make mobile apps without knowing coding. This course has oversimplified the process of making a digital calculator or directory for your village.
rounds since the very inception of the program, many are playing an important role in giving a powerful thrust to the successful implementation of CSC department as well. • Digital literacy is one of the key enablers to excite the communities. It is the scheme which is exciting and igniting these entrepreneurs. It generates large amount of income for them as the government pays ` 300 to an entrepreneur for training one person in digital literacy. If he trains 1000 in his community, which is doable in a year’s time, then he can have 3 lakh rupees. Dr. Tyagi says, “We have already trained about 54 lakh people and we have started to work on our target to train 6 crore citizens in the coming two and a half year’s time. So in no time, 6 crore people in rural India will become digitally literate.” • Digital financial transaction is another value proportion. If you enable 1000 merchants in using digital financial tools installed and in operable condition then he can earn about ` 1 lakh. So an entrepreneur can become a lakhpati in a month if he covers 1000 merchants. Various digital financial tools like Airtel money, Paytm, State Bank Buddy are available through service providers. • Digital doctor is a scheme where you can do telemedicine with an Apollo doctor, an ayurvedic doctor or homeopathy doctor. There is also tele-consultation for animals.
COMMON SERVICE CENTERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Dr. Tyagi opened up with some exemplary instances where CSC has brought about a change that nobody can imagine. “We have trained banjaras (nomads) in Rajasthan to become digitally savvy. The ability to learn in a 65 years old woman in Chhattisgarh who runs a ration shop, runs it with the help of an android phone. She as well believes that if she can learn then anybody can. We have actually started an online course in Tamil Nadu where you can learn to make mobile apps without knowing coding. This course has oversimplified the process of making a digital calculator or directory for your village.” he recalled.
The basic objective of Digital India is to simplify the life of a common man. There is this advantage of using computer that there is no need to be educated to learn it. You do not even need to know English to use computer. You do not have to become an engineer to develop software nowadays as there are young girls in Tamil Nadu who are developing mobile apps without even having the basic understanding of coding.
The end user is what the focus needs to be on, he should be digitally enabled and provided with the right tools. Rural India is very vibrant and all fellows are now having android mobiles and in operation as well as managing them. They are learning on their own as nobody tells them how to ring up a phone, they all just buy phones and start learning on their own. Through these services, now people in rural areas have learned to easily operate a computer sitting in their village. This combines the physical world with the digital world. Rural India is changing phenomenally.
We now have 250,000 CSCs with minimum one in every panchayat. If a panchayat is big in size, then even more than one CSCs are created there. About 50,000 panchayats are yet to be implemented with CSCs. The main reason why these panchayats are left out is the availability of connectivity. Our whole value proportion and format is based on connectivity, therefore without it or with poor quality of connectivity, we still struggle to establish a CSC