Technological advancements in the past decades have widened the gap between the rich and the needy. The lack of access to the internet and Information Technology (IT) resources hinders the growth of a considerable percentage of India’s population. However, IT supporting rural livelihood in India has slowly manifested through the combined efforts of private and public sector initiatives.

Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Center

IT supporting rural livelihood in India has been expected to act as a viable option. IT can be used for various purposes like predicting weather conditions and market prices for farming along with gaining useful knowledge and skills. To materialize this, Mission 2007 was initiated in 2003 by an alliance of 150 organizations to avail the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) dedicated to human well-being in rural areas.

The Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy (NVA) for Rural Prosperity and the Jamsetji Tata Training School (JTS) for Leadership in Rural Knowledge Connectivity were established to support and fuel this IT revolution. They aim to provide IT access and training to more than a million rural people and encourage them by enabling them to enhance their livelihood with the help of IT skills.

The National Virtual Academy

Established in 2003 under the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), the NVA aims to train “grassroots workers” to use ICTs to enable them to be responsible for their development and “to build skills and capacities relevant to enhancing opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.” Alongside providing training in ICTs, the NVA also facilitates the recognition of rural people who have mastered ICTs and are using their skills to guide the betterment of villages.

The NVA aims to materialize access to “work, income and health security” like e-governance, e-commerce, e-literacy and e-health in rural areas. The initiative seeks to establish a “two-way linkage” communication system, where scientists share information on agriculture and technological advancements with rural communities while rural people provide insights into traditional farming methods. This exchange helps scientists develop sustainable farming practices that integrate both modern and traditional knowledge.

The NVA also facilitates “lateral communication” to enable people within rural areas to share their knowledge and expertise with other rural people through technological means. It, therefore, functions as a “participatory knowledge hub,” tying traditional wisdom with modern science. In 2006, the initiative recognized the achievements of 77 people from across 11 states in India, highlighting its impact in rural areas.

Jamsetji Tata Training School

The JTS aims to provide training on computer applications to rural workers at the grassroots level. It also aims to create virtual platforms to develop learning environments where rural people can learn need-based skills and competencies to gain knowledge specific to their area of work. The JTS is similar to the NVA in its primary aims and objectives and helps further build NVA’s initiatives by equipping people with Village Knowledge Centers (VKCs), Village Resource Centers (VRCs) and Knowledge Hub Consortiums (KHCs) to encourage centralized learning environments.

Some other efforts by JTS include organizing workshops between scientists and NVA fellows, addressing issues at the grassroots level with government agencies, providing training on computer applications and developing virtual platforms for learning.

Conclusion

In 2019, 41% of India’s population, amounting to approximately 574 million people, had access to the internet. Among this, 307 million internet users belonged to the urban population and 264 million people belonged to the rural population. As of 2023, 55% of India’s population, amounting to 821 million people, have access to the internet. Among these, a higher percentage of internet users come from rural areas (442 million) than urban areas (378 million). As a result of initiatives like those mentioned above, India has experienced significant growth in IT access across the country, particularly in rural areas. IT supporting rural livelihood in India is now not only a dream but a reality.

– Adya Umesh

Adya is based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India and focuses on Good News, Global Health for The Borgen Project.

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