Mukti Jain Campion visits 5 pioneering projects that are bringing the internet to rural communities on the Indian subcontinent.
Deepak Patel - Gyandoot kiosk operator in Bagdi village. |
Programme Five: Reducing Bureaucracy to Byte Size
India is famous for its bureaucracy and corruption but several states are now recognising the power of the internet to overcome this. Villagers in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh (one of the poorest states of India but with one of the most progressive governments) can use the new "Gyandoot" cyberkiosks to get birth certificates, land records and driving licenses - in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the usual cost (which often included large bribes and lost days' wages). They can also use the internet to complain about local schools and roads and be guaranteed a response within one week. In fact anything to do with local government can now be done online, cutting out the corruption and power of the middlemen and making bureaucrats more accountable.
The Gyandoot Project
Information on the rural intranet
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