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In Indonesia, the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology seeks to provide telephone access to all villages by 2010. In Nigeria, the Ministry of Communications began the National Rural Telephony Program that aims to provide tele-communication services to 343 Local
Government Areas. When complete, they will have added 150,000 new telephone lines to currently under-served areas. Indian Government also provides Village Telephone to village panchayat under MARR. These are just a few examples of governments who recognize the need of bringing connectivity to even its most rural communities.

Organizational / Entrepreneurial

Since governments often lack funds for ICT services, organizations and private entrepreneurs provide funding to connect the unconnected. The World Bank International Finance Corporation provides loans, guarantees, and equity to private companies in the ICT sector in developing markets to extend ICT access to under-served locations, improve current infrastructure, and support manufacturing operations. Often, it is hard for companies to find funding for projects to connect rural areas due to the risk involved on getting a return, or generating profit from such ventures. The World Health Organization also provides funding and information to organizations to improve health, promote health standards, and foster the growth of e-Health services, especially to rural and remote communities that often lack quality health services.

Major Initiatives in India

The rural India has started to realize that access to ICT is not a luxury; instead, it helps them compete in the market place and survive in the digital age. For example, two years ago, fishermen in Kerala started carrying mobile phones in their tiny boat thinking that it will be useful during emergencies. Now they call up the coastline to verify which village provides a better deal for their fish-catch. Similarly, a kisan in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh went to the Gyandoot cyber kiosk and sold his buffalo online at the cost of Rs. 10 Thousand. In brief, there are several projects attempting to provide the crucial information services to the village population in India.

Some of the major projects have been explored: -

Village Knowledge Centre Project

It is one of the early experiments in electronic knowledge delivery to the poor. The project connects ten villages near Pondicherry by a hybrid wired and wireless network - consisting of PCs, telephones, VHF duplex radio devices and e-mail connectivity through dial-up telephone lines - that facilitates both voice and data transfer.

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Dr. Gursharan Singh Kainth specializes in Quantitative & Development Economics, and is currently Director of GAD Institute of Development Studies, Amritsar, a self-financed research institute. Has been honoured with various awards, including Guru Draunacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, etc.
Ms. Kamalpreet Kaur is Research Scholar at GAD Institute of Development Studies.
Article posted on December 28, 2008.