Goonj is a social media network for rural India that uses mobile radio, community radio, and video to give communities a voice. It allows villagers to call in and share stories that are then made available for others to access by phone. Goonj also conducts campaigns on topics like water management and health that engage communities both online and offline. It collects data to understand issues and raise awareness. Goonj aims to empower communities and help development efforts reach remote areas through its network across multiple states in India.

1. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
I N F O R M AT I O N , C O M M U N I T Y M O B I L I Z AT I O N , AN D
AC C O U N TAB I L I T Y C AM PAI G N S O N G O O N J
J AN U ARY 2 0 1 3
GOONJ
- A Social Media Network for the Bottom
of the Pyramid -
V O I C E O F T H E V I L L AG E

2. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
 Network of community media stations in rural and suburban
India
 Mobile radio
 Interactive radio over phone technology pioneered by Gram Vaani
 Jharkhand Mobile Radio: Over 2000 calls per day, 20000+ callers
 Community radio
 Gram Vaani’s GRINS automation system enhances community
engagement over FM community radio
 UP, MP, Uttarakhand, Haryana, AP, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan
 Community video
 Public screenings of community created videos
 Interactive DVD magazines co-developed with IIT Delhi
What is the Goonj network?

3. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
Goonj’s flagship deployment:
Jharkhand Mobile Radio
 Mobile phone based platform for crowd-sourcing local information from remote
villages, and making it available for anyone to access over phone
Village groups call into
a toll-free number to
tell stories and
experiences
The submitted stories
are validated and
moderated by a trained
editor
Validated stories
are published
online
Validated stories are
also published for
access on same toll-
free numberOther people can call into the toll-
free number to listen to the
validated stories
Valuable statistics
and reports can be
derived from the
information
collected

4. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
Campaigns on Goonj
Topical discussions
are initiated by
community members
Other Goonj
users listen
and contribute
Feedback is analyzed
and transcripted. Fed
back on to the platform
to create sustained
discussions
Detailed
reports and
statistics are
provided
 Goonj’s offline network of community representatives and NGO partners
 Network conducts FGDs to improve community awareness, help take up
issues reported by community members for follow-up
 Interesting stories from the field are profiled on mainstream media
Online activity
Offline activity

5. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
 Instrument the state of water
bodies in the villages. Findings:
 MNREGA has indeed reached
remote areas and funded works
 But bad planning and maintenance
problems prevail, rendering the work
useless
 Villagers have themselves evolved
community funded approaches to
manage their water resources
Some previous campaigns
 Assess community’s willingness to
openly discuss HIV/AIDs. Findings:
o Awareness limited, but people
willing to discuss
o Recognize the importance of open
discussions to tackle this epidemic

6. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
 Collect data and insights
 Goonj reaches the last mile
 Detailed analytics: Topic, location, demography
 Enables both breadth and depth in coverage
 Initiate interesting discussions
 Raise issues for advocacy and take them up for follow-up locally
 Take up issues being discussed up to the mainstream media and public
consciousness, policy reformulations
 Goonj is a network: Join us and participate. Check out
http://gramvaani.org on how to participate
How can you become a part of the
Goonj campaigns

7. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
 Cash transfer
 Is it working in your village? Working for YOU?
 Financial inclusion
 Options available for loans and savings? Are SHGs functional?
 Maternal mortality
 Experiences and stories from your village… how can this be improved?
 School meals programs
 Do your children get hot food? Nutritious food?
 Suggest more topics, more questions, and help us work on these
issues
Up coming campaign topics

8. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
About Gram Vaani

9. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
About us
 Vision: “Build citizen-driven media platforms that give
communities a voice of their own”
 Working at the interface of
 Technology | Media | Development
 Strategy
 Evolve synergies between communities, the government, large
development institutions, and media agencies
 We work all across India with more than 30+ non-profit
organizations, and now in Africa too
 Awards and recognition
 mBillionth award 2012
 Rockefeller Challenge 2012
 Finalists in Vodafone Mobiles for Good 2012
 10 most innovative companies in India (by Fast Company)
 Economic Times Power of Ideas 2010
 Manthan Award 2009
 Knight News Challenge 2008

10. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
Our projects
1. Goonj.Net: Social media for the BoP
 Voice-based social media platform, currently in
Jharkhand
2. GRINS: Automation system for community
radio stations
 32 deployments across 12 states in India, 6
deployments in Africa
3. vApps: Community engagement tools
 Indian deployments: UP, Bihar, AP
 International: Afghanistan, Pakistan
4. FullCircle: Social audit tools for communities
 A voice and SMS based community audit
framework to review the performance of public
services

11. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
Our partners
MCD Delhi
Knight Fndn.
IIT Delhi

12. g o o n j : s o c i a l m e d i a f o r e v e r y o n e
G r a m Va a n i C o m m u n i t y M e d i a
W e b s i t e : h t t p : / / w w w. g r a m v a a n i . o r g
E m a i l : c o n t a c t @ g r a m v a a n i . o r g
Thanks