ICT can empower poor and marginalized groups by improving access to education, markets, healthcare, and government services. It can help reduce poverty and increase security. However, a digital divide still exists between those who can access and use technology and those who cannot. ICT initiatives in India have aimed to empower women and rural communities through projects that provide access to computers, the internet, and information. Examples discussed include the e-Choupal kiosks managed by women's self-help groups, and the use of mobile phones and databases by organizations like SEWA. ICT is seen as a way to give "voice to the poor" and increase transparency and participation in governance.

1. ICT for Empowerment
Dr Arvind Kumar Jhajharia
Assistant Professor
College of Agriculture, Bikaner

2. ICT is What? Why?
 What is ICT?
ICT is the New Technology greatly facilitates the acquisition and
absorption of knowledge, offering developing countries
unprecedented opportunities to enhance educational systems,
improve policy formations and execution, and widen the range of
opportunities for business and the poor.
The ICT thus can be defined as An electronic means of capturing,
processing, storing and communicating information.
Diverse set of technological tools and resources to
create, disseminate, store, bring value‐addition and
manage information

3. Social aspect of ICT
ICT can improve poor people lives – but only if policies and
projects are designed to exploit its potential.
Attacking Poverty: Poverty Reduction Efforts
a. Opportunity: ICT can enhance poor peoples opportunity by
improving their access to Education, Markets and Health care.
b. Empowerment: ICT can empower them by expanding their use of
Govt. services and Info.
c. Security: ICT can increase security by widening access to micro-
finance.

4. ICT and Empowerment
Digital Divide
Differences in resources and capabilities to access and effectively
utilize ICT for development that exist within and between
countries, regions, sectors and socio-economic groups
low levels of access to technologies
Gender equality
“gender divide” - reflected in the lower numbers of women
accessing and using ICT compared with men.
ICT can be a powerful catalyst for political and social
empowerment of women, and the promotion of gender equality

5. Key Services fail people – access, quantity and quality
Millennium Development Goals [MDG] (2000)
benefits of new technologies, especially Information and
Communication Technologies [ICTs] are made available to all

6. ICT – Features
ICT is important for Social Risk management and Social
Protection, and Transferring the Technology Management and
know-how is crucial for three main reasons:
1. Reducing the digital divide.
2. Improving the business process.
3. Re-designing social protection programs.
ICT will play a role mainly as a Communication Technology
rather than as an information processing or production
technology. Hence, ICT have a great role to play in giving
VOICE to the poor.

7. ICT has mainly TWO elements:
I. The Technology itself and
II. The Information on which it operates.
Added on TWO more elements:
a. Processes of purposeful activity. (Provider side)
b. People to understand these processes. (User side)
All FOUR components now become as:
INFORMATION SYSTEM, such as a support system
that helps share information using e-mail / WWW /
Intranet / Web Conference.
ICT – Features

8. The system exists in:
1. An environment of Institution:
Organisations, Groups, Markets.
2. Influencing factors:
Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technical, Legal.
Hence, Governments, Donors and Development
Organisations are rushing to realize the benefits that
INTERNET access promises fight against POVERTY.
ICT – Features

9. ICT Parameters for Successful Project implementation are:
1. Source Proximity: Data is created within a particular
context and retains embedded characteristics of the
context.
2. Trust: Before they will accept the data, recipients
MUST trust both its Source and its Communication
channel.
3. Knowledge: Information creates Knowledge, but
Knowledge is also needed to create Information.
4. Confidence and Security: In order to use new
communication channels, recipients MUST have
Confidence and feel motivated to take a certain amount
of Risk.
ICT – Features

10. WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF ICT?
 E-Mail;
 On-Line Extension Information Services;
 Interactive Expert Systems on Crop Pests and diseases;
 INTERNET browsing for Extension Information;
 Static & Mobile Video Conferencing;
 Distance Learning and
 DBVRC VSAT based Conferencing.
in complement with Telephone (Basic and Mobile), Radio,
Television, Audio-Visual and Print media of Extension Message
communications among scientists, Extension-
Workers and the FARMERS.

11. “ICT Infrastructure - The Scenario:
 In the age of Internet the gap between the “haves” and “have nots” is
parallel by an ever widening divide between “knows” and “know-nots”
– Human Development Report 1999 – UNDP (Deccan Chronicle, July
13, 1999)
 88% of worlds’ Internet users – 143 million in 1988 and 700 million in
2001 – were in rich industrialized nations.

12.  China is being supported by Microsoft under project “VENUS”,
connect all 320 million TV user households on Internet;
 Under “Cyber Korea 2000” the number of PCs increased from 14
per 100 people to 32 per 100 people ;
 Other countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan are also in
process of preparing high investment IT plans to harness the
potential of e-commerce;
 India also has prepared a comprehensive IT Plan for
infrastructure Human Resources development in the IT Sector.

13. ICTS and Women’s Empowerment
Access to information
Knowledge networking and empowerment
Social and political empowerment (e-governance,
violence against women, health, education)
Economic empowerment through employment and
Entrepreneurship

14. India Shop, an e‐commerce website [2005] in Tamil Nadu,
has been designed to sell products made by rural
women’s co‐operatives and NGOs.
The Dhan Foundation [2004] and Swayam Krishi Sangam
[2004] are using ICTs, such as handheld devices and
smart cards, to improve microfinance projects to empower
poor women
ICT Initiatives

15. NABANNA
A Success Story of Empowerment
innovative uses of databases,
intranet portals
web‐based partnerships in the local language
building a framework for information sharing, content
creation, off‐line information dissemination

16. Women gained more respect in their local communities as a result of
ICT skills acquired at the centre – learning to use a computer and
accruing and distributing the information to local people. This resulted
in greater respect both at family and community level.
Younger women felt they were able to approach the job market with
greater confidence than before. ICT skills help them to find jobs and
increase their income.
Women became more creative after learning a program like Paintbrush
in Windows.
Women have achieved an increase in income as well as enhancement
of solidarity among women in the community.
Changes Occurred

17. Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
Technology Information Centres in 11 districts of Gujarat
Training in basic computer skills for their ‘barefoot managers’, build the
capacity of women organizers and leaders, and strengthen their
members’ micro enterprises.
Programmes for developing women’s abilities in the use of computers,
radio, television, video, the telephone, fax machines, mobile phones and
satellite communication.

18. Grameen Phones in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s first cell phone network
Focused approach to gender and development through their
model of poverty reduction,
Serving as a source of micro-credit and literacy training, skills
development, and health, family planning, and political
consciousness education directed at women

19. Some 75 per cent of the operators are women, numbering about 2,000
(women operators promote women’s phone usage because women are
more likely to use phones when the operator is a woman)
Where women were operators, 82 per cent of the users were women;
with men operators, women comprised only 6.3 per cent of Grameen
Bank phone users.
More than half of women users (58 per cent) said that they preferred
women phone operators.
The phones are also used to obtain agricultural price information,
thereby improving the position of the villagers in bargaining with
middlemen and resulting in higher prices for local farm products.

20. Application of ICT for e-governance
Electronic discussions through the panchayati raj (village governance
institutions)
Village women often pose questions that are answered promptly by a
panel of experts. Through translation modules, responses go to the
women in their vernacular language
Useful in increasing the transparency and accountability of
government
SEWA Initiative

21. e-Seva (e-services) project
The project uses ICTs to provide access to various citizen-to-citizen
(C2C) and citizen-to-government (C2G) services to the people living in
rural areas.
Web-enabled rural kiosks termed e-Seva centres were established at
the mandal (a sub-district unit of administration) level.
Managed by women SHGs and have been able to position the rural
women as information leaders to help bridge the gender divide.
Virtual meeting place for citizens to discuss issues relating to the
district/villages, its problems and prospective solutions

22. Online forum for them to share their grievances, air their opinions
and trigger the necessary social changes
Opportunity to conduct opinion polls on the important topical
issues leading to improved decision-making
Enables the administration to pass down important social
communications and advocacies for broadcast to the communities

23. ITC e-Choupals
Project Implemented by ITC for Sourcing and
Distribution of Rural commodities.

24. Lessons from e-Choupals
 Turnover: Rs.12,039 crore.
 Sourcing: Rs.4,000 crore; Distribution:Rs.50 crore.
 Model: Use proprietary network of intermediaries
for procurement and distribution.
 Current coverage: 5,050 kiosks in 31,000 villages.
 Goal: To account for 7% of India’s GDP by 2020.
Revenue from e-Choupals will overtake that from
tobacco by 2010.
 Target Size: Sourcing -Rs.4,000 crore;
Distribution-Rs.3,000 crore by 2010.
 Targeted Coverage: 20,000 e-Choupals in 1 lakh
villages by 2010.

25. e-Choupals Movement
 ITC The first Choupal Sagar is up and running at
Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.
 By March 2006, ITC plans to build 30 such Malls,
by pushing ahead with its distribution plans.
 It is trying to see how cannibalisation between the
Choupal Sagars and the Sanchalaks’ own
businesses can be managed.
 These Rural Malls contain products along with
services like Health, Soil testing, Fuel station,
Cyber café, Agri product demo centers etc.

26. Current Indian Scenario
Considerable optimism about potential of new
ICTs to spur economic and social development.
A number of State Initiated Projects in Pipeline.
Immediate Need for Information Packaging
Capacity building in Agriculture Sector in
general, Agricultural Extension in particular.