Project Description
This project involves the setting up of information kiosks in twenty villages to provide relevant information to local people in an efficient manner. The kiosks are wired through an intranet network and are set up in the village offices (Gram Panchayats). The kiosks are connected to the intranet through dial up lines.

Project Objectives
The main objective of Gyandoot was to provide services to the rural masses and act as a link between the administration and the people.

Intended Beneficiaries
It was intended to benefit the rural masses by providing them with locally relevant information and also by reducing the time taken in administrative procedures.

Partners Involved
The village Panchayat supplied the funding for these kiosks. Technical training is being provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Impact: Costs and Benefits
This project has served as a medium for providing direct access to the administration and has led to a shift from complete ignorance of the Internet and its benefits to its adoption in everyday life.

Lessons Learned
On the technical side, problems exist with connectivity. The telephone department was not particularly responsive towards the needs of the project. Also since the rural population is predominantly illiterate and e-payments are not yet legally sanctioned in India, transactions cannot be purely virtual through the Gyandoot project.

Constraints/Challenges
Delivery of local content through the private sector has been prevented due to government regulations. Some fundamental issues need to be resolved before large scale investments are made to create more kiosks. The Gyandoot Project worked very well until the person who headed it was moved to another post. Also the content does not include sufficient information for women, resulting in women forming a negligible part of the user base.

Sustainability Factors
The initial infrastructure was provided by the state government. The scheme is economically viable and self sustainable.

Recommendations
District representatives of the telephone department need to be included in the committees running and planning Gyandoot services. Also, given the state of rural telecommunications infrastructure, network capacity must be expanded.

Further Information

http://dhar.nic.in/GYANDOOT.htm

http://www.egov4dev.org/gyandoot.htm