1) Background
The project aimed to leverage Information and Communication Technologies for Tribal Communities through Weekly Market Centres. SIRDI had chosen Sawalmendha village, a Weekly Market Centre in Bhainsdehi Tehsil of Betul District in Madhya Pradesh, for this purpose. The place also falls on the border of two states i.e. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. A map of Betul District is attached at Annexure -1.

Approximately 10,000 people from about 60 nearby villages gather for the weekly market every Monday, to purchase their essentials, sell their produce, carry out their bank operations, meet each other etc. Another 5000 visit it every Tuesday for the weekly cattle market. During the rest of the week, another 3000 to 5000 people visit Sawalmendha. Teenagers from nearby villages come there daily to attend high school and higher secondary school.

Villagers thus cater to most of their day-to-day needs through the Weekly Market places. They however face problems in dealing with government, markets, health-care and education systems as also other elements of the larger world.

The project's developmental objectives were to:

• Allow a community (which has no internet facility and will not get it for another 5 years or so - this has unexpectedly changed since the start of the project due to transformation in India's telecom scenario) access to ICT related services.
• Make available to the people a technology if not at their doorstep but at least at a place which they visit at least once in a week.
• Help get information through the use of ICT at the minimum cost to them by reducing their travel time (which can be converted into wages equivalent) and their travel cost.
• Help get the Government delivery systems closer to them through the ICT use.

2) Synthesis :

The objectives of the project were:
a) To leverage the Weekly Market Centre for fulfilling the needs of Tribal community
b) To use Information and communications technology for fulfilling information needs of tribal community and understand the problem areas:
c) To save time and money of villagers for information needs-
d) To research the feasibility of using ICT in harsh Rural and Tribal environment

The modus operandi of the project was:

• To set-up the necessary infrastructures at Sawalmendha, Tehsil place Bhainsdehi and the District place Betul after selecting and buying suitable equipment.
• To understand the exact information needs of the Tribal Communities.
• To develop suitable software to enter the request for help collected from people.
• To establish a communication network between villagers.

Various activities done were:

The computers and other instruments were operated/tested in harsh rural conditions. There was no significant breakdown throughout the project period.

A network of Saathins (village information leaders) was established to work as catalysts.

Generation of the requests for help was done through various means such as Saathins, SIRDI staff, by meeting people in the weekly market, conducting village level meetings etc.

After months of follow-up with the telecom department internet connectivity was established at Sawalmendha.

Nodes at Betul & Bhainsdehi were set up to:

• Forward the requests for help to the various departments / authorities.
• Follow-up & send back the feed back of the request for help to Sawalmendha.

Various activities like Agricultural Camp for farmers, Quiz Competition for students, Eye Camp for visually impaired people were carried out to reach more and more people and provide them benefits of the projects.

The facilities like photocopy and lamination, students' results on internet were provided by the project at low cost. This saved a lot of time and money of the people and students.

The project was successful in meeting its objectives in many ways as outlined :

• The project reduced the gender bias by making successful participation of women in the project.
• The project has initiated a Saathin Federation movement leading to empowerment of women.
• It was successful in creating awareness about such information centres at remote village level.
• People coming to weekly market now have an access to readily available information, which was not there before the project.
• A remote place like Sawalmendha got an access to internet, was not possible had the ICT Project been not implemented (accepting the poor and slow link).
• The project was successful in saving substantial time and money of the community on information needs.
• The computers were tested in harsh rural environment without breakdown.

3) Research Problem
The research objectives of the project were:

a) Technical

• To test whether the ICT can be brought to remote communities.
• To check how ICT can be made to work in remote areas where there is no access to phone lines; technical support is missing; the power supply is non-existent and road network poor.
• To identify technologies (e.g. public address system) and systems complementary to ICT for more effectiveness in its use.

b) Social

• To identify areas where the ICT can be used.
• To assess the impact of use of ICT on tribal community.
• To understand the social and psychological factors which influence use or non-use of ICT.
• To check whether weekly markets can provide the base for "door-step" availability of access to ICT.
• To understand how the Government machinery responds to the use of this technology.
• To evaluate the benefit to the community.

4) Research Findings

a) Technical

This project was successful in bringing ICT to remote communities. But due to lack of awareness about ICT on the part of people in the project region the community could not really benefit through this on large basis in such a short period.

Computers and other instruments were tested in real harsh conditions and did not give any major breakdown throughout the project period as proper care was taken in planning.

Telephone lines being unreliable, the internet access was very difficult and it took months of perseverance to get the connection activated. The telecom milestones are attached at Annexure -4B.

The literacy rate in the project region and awareness about ICT in the project region was almost negligible.

b) Social

The area where the project was carried out covered 68 villages. The response from the villages regarding the generation of requests for help was much healthier in those villages where SIRDI had already been working and was having its Social Workers based in those villages.

As regards to the use of facilities provided by the ICT Project at Sawalmendha it was found that the literate people were keener to use the facilities.

On the later stages of the project the local youth started taking keen interest in the activities of the centre and also showed keen interest in learning internet technology.

The percentage of requests for help submitted by women remained consistent throughout the project period i.e. 35 %. Category wise chart of the requests for help submitted by people is attached at Annexure -6A to 6C .

The flood of request, which initially was for seeking employment, got converted into information related and entrepreneurship sort when youth understood the rationale behind this project.

5) Fulfilment of Objectives

The developmental objectives of the project were :

a) To leverage the Weekly Market Centre for fulfilling the needs of Tribal community-

SIRDI established a Multi Facility Centre at the Weekly Market place Sawalmendha. This place is visited by thousands of villagers every week for purchasing their essentials and other routine work. By establishing this information centre with multile facilities SIRDI ICT project was able to fulfil many of the information needs of the villagers.

b) To use Information and communications technology for fulfilling information needs of tribal community and understand the problem areas:
A remote place like Sawalmendha which could not have otherwise got an access to ICT (though not as smooth and robust as city places) has it now. The young generation there can certainly benefit from it over the long run. Especially the girls who had difficulty in going to the Tehsil and District place for seeking smallest of information now access it easily.
Generation of the requests for help was done through various means such as Saathins, SIRDI staff, by meeting people in the weekly market, conducting village level meetings etc.(Annexure - 10 )
c) To save time and money of villagers for information needs-
This project has really been a grand success as far as this objective was concerned. To quote a few of the highlights where we have been immensely successful in saving substantial time and money of the villagers -

§ Examination Results on internet:

The month of June here is the month of declaration of results for various examinations. For the first time in Sawalmendha and the nearby region the students were able to access their results SIRDI ICT centre at Sawalmendha on the same day the results were declared at minimum cost (a specimen copy of the mark sheet downloaded from the internet is attached at Annexure -12A).
Prior to this the cost incurred for this was huge, as the students had to go to the District place Betul for availing this facility. The money saved by students on this front is briefly narrated at Annexure -8B.

§ Availability of government forms at Sawalmendha:

As like the photocopy work people used to visit the Tehsil place Bhainsdehi or the District place Betul for collecting forms and pre-printed formats of the various certificates and forms needed for various purposes. SIRDI provided these forms at Sawalmendha ICT centre and saved time and money of the villagers on this front also. A sample of one of such forms is attached at Annexure - 12B.

§ Low cost photocopy and lamination facility:

By installing a 4-in-1 machine (i.e. a machine with the printing, scanning, photocopying and fax facility) at Sawalmendha SIRDI provided a low cost photocopy solution to the people coming to the Weekly Market. This facility got an overwhelming response. People had to visit all the way to the Tehsil place Bhainsdehi for getting a single photocopy done. The economics of photocopying is attached at Annexure - 8A.

d) To research the feasibility of using ICT in harsh Rural and Tribal environment
The computer systems were really tested in harsh environments at Sawalmendha. The power condition not only in Sawalmendha but also in the whole state of Madhya Pradesh where the project was carried out is was poor that there is a power supply only for a few hours a day. The power log of one-week showing the power supply conditions in the region is attached at Annexure 4-A as an example. And the scorching summer added to it. Still this extremely poor power situation was managed very well with the help of power back-up instruments.
Availability of electricity was between 4-8 hours per day which was not sufficient to even charge the batteries of UPS & Inverters. Hence Generator backup planned in the project was useful.
The roads were always flooded with traffic of the trucks and the transport buses, which spread a lot of dust all over the place in the ICT centre which was unmanageable at times.

6) Project Design and Implementation

The implementation part of the project had following key parts:

• To set-up the necessary infrastructure at Sawalmendhal after selecting and buying suitable equipment
• To develop suitable software for recording the requests for help.
• To setup the Nodes at Taluka Town ( Bhainsdehi) & District Town ( Betul )
• To establish a communication network between villagers and the staff at Sawalmendha so that the information needs of the villagers are met within minimum possible time.

To setup the infrastructure :

A place was hired in the market area, which could easily be sited by any visitor
The necessary equipments such as computers, power-backup instruments (as the place did not get the regular power supply even for a few hours a day) were purchased and installed.
The machines were tested thoroughly so as to work in the harsh rural conditions.
The centre at Sawalmendha was named as "Multi Facility Centre" (MFC), termed as "Vividh Soochna Kendra" in Hindi, the local link language.

To develop suitable software:

For entering the information requests of the villagers in the computer, special software was designed. The features of this specially designed software are described in Annexure -3A. All the inputs and outputs were in local language so that local people can access and understand it easily.
An English version of request for help form is attached at Annexure -3B.

To setup the Nodes:

Besides the Sawalmendha Centre, nodes at Betul & Bhainsdehi were set up as part of the project to receive complaints or requests for help from the Sawalmendha Centre. After follow-up send back the info against the query to Sawalmendha

For establishing the communication network between the villagers and the office at Sawalmendha:

Two selected women from every village termed as "Saathins" (meaning companions) were given training for two days at the Sawalmendha ICT centre. A brief note on Saathins is attached as Annexure -5A.
108 Saathins from about 60 project villages were trained to work as catalysts. A list of Saathins with their respective villages is attached at Annexure -5B.

7) Project Outputs & Dissemination

As far as the output and the spread of the project is concerned there have been so many achievements for ICT Project in such a short span:

The illiterate Tribal women who had never dreamt of Information Technology coming to their doorstep have been able to make use of ICT for their community benefit. The participation of women in the project in the form of Saathins (village information leaders) in the ICT project is a big achievement as far as Women's empowerment is concerned.

We have also been able to form a federation of Saathins (Annexure -2). The money collected through photocopy, lamination charges and through charging for the students' results on internet is being deposited in a separate bank account for Saathins. This money will further be used for their benefit and for economic sustainability of the project.

Out of the total number of requests generated women have given 35% of the requests. This itself is an indication that the project is pro -women and we have been successful in our efforts.

A remote place like Sawalmendha which could not have otherwise got an access to ICT (though not as smooth and robust as city places) has now ICT facility. The young generation there can certainly benefit from it over the long run. Especially the girls who had difficulty in going to the Tehsil and District place for seeking smallest of information now access it easily.

By installing a 4-in-1 machine (i.e. a machine with the printing, scanning, photocopying and fax facility) at Sawalmendha SIRDI has provided low cost photocopy solution to the people coming to Weekly Market and it is getting an overwhelming response. Through this SIRDI ICT project was able to save substantial time and money of the villagers.

The month of June here is the month of declaration of results for various examinations. For the first time in Sawalmendha and the nearby region the students were able to access their results at SIRDI ICT centre on the same day the results were declared at minimum cost. Prior to this the cost incurred for this was huge as the students had to go to the District place Betul for availing this facility. The to and fro fare from Sawalmendha to Betul is Rs. 50 and it takes about 3 hours of hectic journey one-way. Plus the cyber café person at the District place charged a handsome amount for providing this facility.

The initially required deliberate efforts for the generation of requests for help is not needed now as more and more people have become aware of the SIRDI's ICT centre and its activities.

Out of the total requests generated for help we were able to forward most of requests relating to Agriculture, Education, Social Welfare Department, and Integrated Tribal Development Program (ITDP), which constitutes to a healthy percentage of the requests. Some sample requests for help under educational category, Bhola & Babita and under health category Seema & Jayna have been explained as illustrations. The details of these cases are briefed and attached at Annexure -7.

Since the SIRDI team was able to convience the dignified cause of the project to the government the project certainly made the government authorities pro-active in supporting the project. The government took our assistance in carrying out various surveys. This in itself was an indication of the exactness of the data that we were able to generate through our software and the field team's penetration in the region.

The Agriculture office has started sending an official every Monday to ICT Sawalmendha centre to solve queries of the villagers and to give them information about the latest schemes available with them.

For the convenience of the villagers visiting the ICT centre at Sawalmendha the documents and forms for various government schemes were made available at through a compact disc. Also the manual copies of the same were made available at Sawalmendha ICT centre for the convenience of the people visiting Sawalmendha. So this became very convenient for the people, as this is the season when these forms are required in abundance.

To create the awareness about the ICT Project and its objectives amongst youth in the project region, the project organized a "Quiz Competition " for the local youth, which got a very good response. Details of this are narrated at Annexure -9B.

SIRDI ICT Project organized an eye camp to help out the people who are visually impaired .A total of 61 patients were checked and 10 of them were taken for operation to the hospital from the nearby region. A report on this is given at Annexure -9C.

8) Capacity Building

The capacity building has two parts-

Firstly, the active participation of the women in the project in the form of Saathins. The formation of Saathins' federation will certainly lead to building of self-esteem in the women. The money collected against the services provided is being deposited in a separate bank account for Saathins. This money will further be used for their benefit and for economic sustainability of the project. This gives them a kind of economic freedom, which they have been deprived of ages.

It was one of the objectives of the project that the project should become economically viable over a period of time and should run through the women who have been trained under the project. However the initial period of one year proved to be very tight considering the low literacy rate and lack of awareness about ICT in the project region. Also the geographical location of the villages had its own effect on the speed of the project. When the project got its publicity in the region and some steps for revenue generation were taken, now there are a bundle of opportunities for sustaining this project further. To add to this SIRDI's own Self Help Groups started incorporating with the ICT and help women in developing as entrepreneurs. Efforts in this direction have already been started and Saathins federation has already been formed. What we were striving for is the economic independence for women, which will certainly lead to their confidence boosting and changing their overall vision and perception towards life. Once they are through this then they will certainly broaden their horizon and think beyond community, beyond village i. e. for their country.

Secondly, capacity building of SIRDI's own team working on ICT Project, which played a key role in the accomplishment of this project. This project operated at four different locations Sawalmendha being at the core, SIRDI's headquarter Bahiram, the Tehsil place Bhainsdehi and District place Betul. In addition to this the consultants and advisors operated from distant places. So for keeping the co-ordination, the communication channels had to be excellent. So some off-bit channels of communications like sending floppies and CDs via drivers of local buses were discovered. The team members ultimately learned to develop their own work systems to get the things done under odd circumstances and achieve their goal.

It was really tough for the team members to work at such a remote place where the communication means are not reliable; the power conditions are very poor, water supply is irregular, and living conditions are not so hygienic. This certainly added to their mental toughness and increased their capacity to work under harsh rural conditions.

On technical fronts also this project has really taught us so many new things. Being at a remote place where the technical assistance was not available the team members had to upgrade their technical skills like networking, maintenance of the power back-up instruments, and also do the troubleshooting on their own.

Interaction with the people from the project region was another front on which the team learnt a lot. People not being ready to open up easily made the ICT people test their patience.

9) Project Management

There were noteworthy constraints in executing all the activities within a well-defined time frame. It was difficult task attend to all the details of implementation spread over 68 villages. Also the geographical remoteness of the villages had its own effects on the speed of the project.

Administration by SIRDI:

The project worked in an action research mode. SIRDI applied all its experience of almost 25 years in rural development for making this project a success with respect to the developmental objectives. Considering the short-term nature of the project SIRDI had to use all its contacts and good will to gear up the activities in the project. The management provided adequate care and support in terms of time and knowledge to implement the project.

The following individuals provided useful professional inputs for the project:

Dr. Upma Diwan - Handled total administration of the project. She led the project from the front and marshalled her resources to optimum levels.
Dr. D. K Sharma - As above, plus conceptualisation about functional micro-communities
Rahul Bhimjiani - Dealing with government, sustainability inputs, setting up workflow systems.
Ajay Kumar - Technical Coordination, Software Development, Trouble Shooting, Planning, Technical specifications for purchases, designing of reporting systems etc.
Prashant Koranne - Generating transactional data through software, logbooks, registers etc. Day-to-day co-ordination of the project. Also assisting the technical advisor in software development and testing.
Binay Kumar - Setting up the last mile information networks in the villages.

Other consultants and advisors adding value to the project by providing links, resources and ideas to the project:

Dr. S. S. Chakravarty and Shekhar Borgaonkar, Shubhranshu Chowdhury, Guru Dutt and Yogesh Andlay, & Smt. Smita Chowdhary

10) Impact

The impact of this project can be assessed at different levels:

1. ICT Awareness : First and foremost is the awareness of ICT and its usefulness for the people in this region. People have started feeling the need and realizing the significance of this kind of project, which can become a bridge between them and the government machinery. For example Students are finding it easy to seek out the information they regularly need as the ICT centre falls well within their reach.

2. This project has certainly made an impact on the local i.e. district level administration system. With the top level officials like the district collector, the CEOs of various departments taking the cognisance of the activities of the project there is a strong likehood that the project will make the flow of information between government & citizens easier.

Also the visit of former Minister for Information Technology, Government of India (currently holding portfolio of Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas ) Smt. Sumitra Mahajan to the ICT Centre at Sawalmendha , the project has certainly got a recognition not in this region but also in the state and has made a positive impact on the local and district level administration system which will help on the long run. A detail of her visit to ICT Centre Sawalmendha is attached at Annexure -9A.

3. Women Empowerment - Saathin Federation :
The Project has triggered this federation which will create an impact on how women will be able to solve their problems by coming together in more than one way.

11) Overall assessment

• This is one of the rare projects which has been done below a District & Taluka level in India
• SIRDI is happy that it has been able to undertake the project with substantial inputs of time & experience from its staff (non-ICT ) & support of Self Help Groups & the village community
• SIRDI feels that efforts by its staff & consultants/advisors will help the cause of ICT for rural areas

12) Recommendations:

We would like to make the following recommendations to Centre/IDRC/APCIP :

• The ICT projects need technical support group which should be created at National or Regional Level by the organizations like IDRC etc. so as to provide guidance on continuous basis. This is a must as most NGO's can not afford to keep technical staff at high salaries nor would they join NGO's for short term assignment
• Similarly the experience of ICT projects should be available on CD-ROM's so that we can learn from them while stationed in villages & with little/poor access to Internet
• IDRC or similar organizations should create a database of potential ICT manpower ( consultants, volunteers, experts ) who can be linked to short term projects like these.

Annexures to Final Report

1. Annexure 1- Map of Betul District

2. Annexure 2 - Saathin Federation

3. Annexure 3 - Software

§ Annexure 3A - Software Features

§ Annexure 3B - English Translation of Request for Help Form

4. Annexure 4- Power and Telecom Logs

§ Annexure 4A - Power Log for 1 week

§ Annexure 4B - Telecom Milestones

5. Annexure 5- Gender Bias

§ Annexure 5A - A note on Saathins
§ Annexure 5B- List of Saathins and villages

6. Annexure 6- Requests for Help

§ Annexure 6A -Gender-wise Split of Requests for Help
§ Annexure 6 B - Occupational Categorisation of Requests for Help
§ Annexure 6 C - Categorisation of Types of Requests for Help
§ Annexure 6 D - Sample List of Requests

7. Annexure 7- Case Studies

§ Bhola (Educational)
§ Babita Jawarkar (Educational)
§ Seema Patankar (Healthcare)
§ Jayna Kasdekar (Healthcare)

8. Annexure 8- Cost Saving Activities

§ Annexure 8A -Mini-case about "The Economics of Photocopying & Lamination"
§ Annexure 8B - Internet Based Examination results at ICT centre (cost and
time saving)

9. Annexure 9 - Meetings and Awareness Campaigns

§ Annexure 9A - Smt. Sumitra Mahajan's (Former Minister of IT, Government of India) and currently Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas) visit to ICT Centre Sawalmendha

§ Annexure 9B - Quiz Competition for youth

§ Annexure 9C - Eye Camp Report

10. Annexure 10 - Mechanisms for Generating Requests for Help

11. Annexure 11 - List of Photographs to this report
(As the file of photos is large it is sent as two separate attachments)

§ Annexure 11A Photographs up to Mid-term Report (January 2003)
· Annexure 11B Photographs after Mid-term Report

12. Annexure 12 - Miscellaneous

§ Annexure 12A - Examination Result from internet (a sample of marksheet)
§ Annexure 12B - Sample of forms on CD made available at ICT centre Sawalmendha.

Annexure 1: Map of Betul District

Annexure 2: Saathin Federation

In ICT Project an innovative concept of making village women participate in the community development was introduced. Those women were termed as Saathins (companions).

Who is a Saathin?

§ A Saathin is a member of Self-Help Group.
§ A Saathin is a woman who is deeply concerned about the development of her community.
§ A Saathin is a woman who is ready to devote time for the upliftment of her community and village.
§ A Saathin is a woman who is interested in learning new things and helping people.
§ A Saathin is a woman who can talk to people, motivate them to try and explore new opportunities in life.

The formal announcement for the federation of Saathins by SIRDI and SIRDI ICT Project took place on the eve of the "Yuva Shram Sadhak Samaj Function" on 25 May 2003.
In a bid to link more and more Self Help Groups and individual members to the federation an awareness campaign was carried out from 1st to 16th of June. The intention of this campaign was to create awareness about the Saathin Federation and the objectives of the ICT Project.
This campaign started on 1st June. The Chairman of the Saathin Federation Mrs. Prabha Echulkar and Mrs. Pushpa Rathore participated in this along with other members.
The campaign was carried out for two weeks continuously and it covered 29 villages under the ICT Project. In this campaign a total of 64 Self Help Groups joined the federation as members. For creating awareness about the ICT Project a bullock-cart was kept roaming in the project villages. Villagers, children got curious by noticing the bullock-cart with colorful hoardings and some informative matter written on it. The SIRDI social workers accompanying the cart explained the objectives of SIRDI's ICT Project at Sawalmendha and encouraged villagers for submitting requests for help of all sorts.
A two-week campaign for the creating the awareness about the ICT Project and the Saathin Federation came to an end on 16th Jun. The SIRDI Social Workers offered their valuable contribution to this campaign.

Annexure 3: Software for request for help

Ø Annexure 3A:Software Features

1) Data Entry & Authorization:
· Data Entry of Requests
· Authorization of Requests
· Updates on Requests in Hindi & English (Based on feedback or inputs from Government Offices, other resources)
· Authorization of Updates
· Email Requests
2) Reports:
· Summary Reports
· Detailed Report at Request Level
3) Masters:
· 15 Masters (District to Village, Types of Inquiries, Categories of Villagers and other attributes)
4) Security:
· User Definition
· Roles Definition
5) Utilities:
· Backup
· Restore
· Media Transfer
6) Others:
· To be developed, based on results of ongoing review exercise

Ø Annexure 3 (B): English translation of request for help (Data Entry) form

Satpura Integrated Rural Development Institution (SIRDI)

ICT Project, Sawalmendha
(Request for Help)

Form No……
(For office use only ) Date………..

Name of the Village...................

Name of the Applicant............ Father's Name ……….

Sex …………… Age ……………… Caste…………..(SC/ST/OBC/Others)

Educational Qualification of Applicant................................

Applicant's Profession..................................

Yearly Income of the Applicant................................(Less than 5000/ between 5000 to 12000/between 12000 to 20000/Above 20000)

Does applicant belong to any special category?.............................(Handicap/Widow/Divorcee/Others)

Land Holding of the Applicant....................................( Less than 5 acres/between 5 to 10 acres/10 acres and above)

What type of information does the applicant want?.............................(Job/Health/Education/Agriculture/Other)

What is the present source of applicant for seeking this information?........................................

What is the approximate time involved in seeking this information? ....................

What is the approximate expenditure involved in seeking this information? ....................................

Name of the person who submitted the application ..........................

His relationship with the applicant ( if any ) ..............................

Detail explanation about the request (Use back page if required) ......................................

Annexure 4: Power and Telecom Logs

Ø Annexure 4 A: Power Log for 1 week

1-Week Extract from Power Log of ICT Centre, Sawalmendha

Ø Annexure 4 B: Telecom Milestones

Annexure 5:Gender Bias

Ø Annexure 5 A: A note on Saathins

In ICT Project an innovative concept of making village women participate in the community development was introduced. Those women were termed as Saathins (companions).

Who is a Saathin?

§ A Saathin is a member of Self-Help Group.
§ A Saathin is a woman who is deeply concerned about the development of her community.
§ A Saathin is a woman who is ready to devote time for the upliftment of her community and village.
§ A Saathin is a woman who is interested in learning new things and helping people.
A Saathin is a woman who can talk to people, motivate them to try and explore new opportunities in life.

Ø Annexure 5 B: List of Saathins and Villages

Saathin Training Batch I
Date 7/12/02 To 8/12/02

S.N . Name Name of the Village
1 Manda Dahikar Udama
2 Prabha Echulkar Kothalkund
3 Pushpa Rathod Kothalkund
4 Kamla Baraskar Yedapur
5 Jaya Sareyam Saledhana
6 Urmila Waghmare Dhaba
7 Sunita Mavashkar Dhaba
8 Rudiya Dhurvey Chichthana
9 Nabhan Bachale Godharadhana
10 Urmila Dahikar Kothalkund
11 Gonay Lokhande Kakadpani
12 Shanti Uike Junapani
13 Puniya Dhurvey Junapani
14 Nathhi Ahake Khapa
15 Rasu Ahake Khapa
16 Musiya Kalope Nirongi
17 Mala Tekam Nirongi
18 Chatro Dhurvey Khapa

Saathin Training Batch II
Date 13/12/02 to 14/12/02
S.N. Name Name of the village
1 Samoti Panse Janona
2 Rupi Dahikar Janona
3 Chatura Wadiva Ghughri
4 Raiwanti Ahake Ghughri
5 Kamla Jawarkar Malegaon
6 Bukli Jawarkar Malegaon
7 Rama Ewane Malegaon
8 Sushila Sonare Jhiri
9 Kamli Lokhande Jhiri
10 Yashoda Dhurve Khomai
11 Jaywanti Dhurve Gunghati
12 Chhamma Marskole Gunghati
13 Munni Mauseek Dhar
14 Meera Tayde Dhar
15 Bhagrati Kangale Raiyatwadi
16 Sahu Parte Raiyatwadi
17 Samay Kasdekar Malni
18 Lakhnu Jawarkar Malni
19 Mangala Kumre Gadarajhiri

Saathin Training Batch III
Date 18/12/02 to 19/12/02
S.N. Name Name of the Village
1 Jhubu Sirsam Sakli
2 Lamchhi Marskole Sakli
3 Chatiya Edpache Pipalna Kala
4 Devki Patankar Hanumandhana
5 Sheela Khasdev Hanumandhana
6 Soni Baraskar Gadarajhiri
7 Fulwanti Todekar Gadarajhiri
8 Kusuma Mausik Chiklajodi
9 Jiji Bai Bhushumkar Chiklajodi
10 Rundiya Sirsam Temni
11 Puniya Narware Temni
12 Samuwati Dahikar Lamghati
13 Sheetla Chatrapal Pathakheda
14 Rita Wankhede Lamghati
15 Manorama Amrute Katol
16 Geeta Solanki Katol
17 Jhunki Jawarkar Dedwakund
18 Samya Kasdekar Dedwakund
19 Rajo Ewane Babjai
20 Magru Baraskar Babjai

Saathin Training Batch IV
Date 30/12/02 to 31/12/02
S.N. Name Name of the village
1 Sonay Uike Supala
2 Sunita Patankar Themgaon
3 Vimla Uike Bothi
4 Sahili Kawade Bothi
5 Vatsala Patankar Themgaon
6 Bhuri Panse Ambada I
7 Jaywanti Gohe Ambada I
8 Modde Uike Dhawadi
9 Manki Kawade Pathada
10 Suku Umre KokaDhana
11 Sakre Patre KokaDhana
12 Mangu Dahikar Pathada
13 Fula Edwache Ambada II
14 Sukhiya Uike Dhawadi
15 Kallu Tamahe Nathhudhana
16 Budiya Uike Nathhudhana

Saathin Training Batch V

(Organized on the occasion of International Women's Day 7th and 8th March 03)

S.No. Name Village
1 Zunubai Udama
2 Nathanbai Udama
3 Malabai Nirongi
4 Prabhabai Kothalkund
5 Urmila Dahikar Kothalkund
6 Firoza Bano Gadaraziri
7 Zunkibai Dedwakund
8 Soni Baraskar Gadaraziri

Saathin Training Batch VI

Dates 02/04/03 to 03/04/03

S.No. Name Village
1 Tanibai Iwane Satkund
2 Sangita Chilhate Satkund
3 Imala Iwane Khairwada
4 Kalavati kumre Khairwada
5 Fuli Kumre Dagarapata
6 Moge Kumre Gargud
7 Ratna Marskole Dagrapatha
8 Kantu Kasdekar Kawla
9 Nirma Dahikar Kawla
10 Munni Salame Bhuskum
11 Fulwanti Bagwani
12 Kamalshri Marskole Bhuskum
13 Bhugabai Chature Palaskhedi
14 Gayabai Thapoda
14 Seetabai Nimbhekar Thapoda
15 Rammubai Marskole Patakheda
16 Bali Balapure Sawalmendha
17 Lalita Balapure Sawalmendha
18 Malabai Tekam Nirongi
19 Zunubai Kumre Nirongi
20 Kamalabai Bhusumkar Nimbhora
21 Bhagay Jawarkar Nimbhora
22 Sudia Sawarkar Jamulni
23 Nadu Jawarkar Jamulni

Annexure 6:Requests for Help

Ø Annexure 6 A: Gender-wise Split of Requests for Help

Ø Annexure 6 B: Occupational Categorisation of Requests for Help

Ø Annexure 6 C: Categorisation of Types of Requests for Help

Ø Annexure 6 D: Sample List of Requests

v Agriculture

Ø A farmer with 2 acres barren land wanting to know how to take better yields.
Ø A lady farmer asking how to make the diseased yellow crop green again.
Ø Farmers wanting to know from where to buy fertilizers at low cost.

v Job

Ø A graduate wanting help in searching a job.
Ø A high school dropout seeks non-manual work.

v Loan

Ø An illiterate landless labourer aged 35 wanting loan for Goat farming.
Ø An educated youth wanting loan for setting up a Grocery shop.

v Education & Training

Ø An electrician who has done some preliminary training wanting to specialize.
Ø Student who has dropped out of school wanting information about Open Schools.
Ø Students who are poor wanting admission to schools and financial assistance.

v Health

Ø A 40 odd year old woman treated for skin ailment by a quack for 6 months, with no result, asking help.
Ø A woman wanting to get her blood test.
Ø A person suffering from Leprosy wanting addresses of hospitals.

v Social Welfare

Ø A lady aged 60+, with 2 children, wanting monthly pension from government.

Ø Handicapped student wanting tricycle for coming to school.

v Other Information

Ø Villagers collectively asking for construction of road.

Ø Girls from far off villages wanting admission to girls' hostel

Ø A 20-year tractor driver wanting to get driving license.

Ø A local entrepreneur asking for addresses of websites to search vendors for his products

Annexure 7 : Case studies

Bhola smiles again…(Educational)

Bhola is a thirteen-year-old boy from the village Junapani near Sawalmendha. The village has schooling facilities only up to 5th standard. After finishing his schooling in the village Bhola wanted to take admission in the high school at Sawalmendha. His parents are blind and hence unable to work and struggling to meet their both ends. So there was no question of them encouraging him for continuing his education.
At this tender age Bhola has to labor hard to maintain his family expenses by working in other people's fields on daily wages.
Some of his fellow villagers submitted his request at ICT Sawalmendha for helping him continue his studies further. SIRDI's ICT team met the school principal at Sawalmendha explaining his condition and did his admission. All his educational expenses will be borne by SIRDI now onwards.
And smile returns on the face of Bhola…
,
Bhagrathi Jawarkar…(Educational)

Bhagrathi Jawarkar lives in the village called Nirongi. There is no mode of transport from her village to the nearest school, which is in village called Kothalkund. She has to walk 10 km to and fro everyday to come to the school. The school only has facilities up to 10th standard.
After finishing her 10th standard from the Kothalkund village school she wanted to seek admission in high school at Sawalmendha. She also wanted admission in the girls' boarding house, as it was not possible for her to come from her village to Sawalmendha everyday.
The local administration at the school did not take the cognizance of her parents' requests and turned them away by saying that the seats at boarding house and school are already full and they are unable to admit her to the school.
SIRDI ICT came to her rescue. The ICT team met the local authorities and explained the entire scenario to the local governing body. Still they did not consider the request. Then the problem was taken to the district collector who knowing the conditions and trustworthiness of SIRDI, under his special powers ordered the local administration to give that girl the admission. It was one more feather in ICT's achievements cap………

Seema Patankar….(Healthcare)

Seema Patankar is a small girl aged 6 years. Her parents who are poor farmers were deeply worried. Seema is the eldest of their four children. She was growing by age but she did not have any hair on her head. Even her height was not increasing as per her age. Vastala, a Saathin from the village Themgaon (where Seema and her parents reside) submitted this request for help at ICT centre Sawalmendha. A renowned Homoeopath from Bhopal (the capital of Madhya Pradesh) was consulted regarding this problem. Seema was given medicine and started growing hair on her head with Homoeopathic Medicine. Her parents have reported a growth of half inch when ICT team visited her village for feedback. Her parents want to continue the same medicine for her now.
Jayna Kasdekar…(Healthcare)

Jayna is a young woman aged about 30 years. She had reported swelling and severe pain in her left foot. Jayna was also seeking help from local doctor but in vain. Saathin from her village Vastala submitted her request for help. ICT team visited her place and saw her condition. Immediately her case was referred to the renowned Homoeopath. Now SIRDI is providing her medical assistance.

Annexure 8:Cost Saving Activities

Ø Annexure 8 A: Economics of photocopying

Rajjo Bai from village Temni under the SIRDI ICT Project wanted to submit the photocopy of her Yearly Income Certificate to the Banker for procurement of some loan. There was no mode of transport from her village to the Sawalmendha Weekly Market. People travel the distance of about 10 km in the private tractors owned by the traders who carry people to Sawalmendha along with their produce. The charges are Rs. 10 for the round trip.
The nearest place where the photocopy facility is available is the Tahsil place Bhainsdehi, which is 20 km away from even Sawalmendha. Thus, for photocopying a single sheet of paper, Rajjo Bai has to travel further to Bhainsdehi. The to and fro bus fare to Bhainsdehi from Sawalmendha is Rs. 20.
In addition to these cash costs, she loses a whole day's time in travelling from Temni to Bhainsdehi via Sawalmendha. Being a daily wages labourer, this means an income loss of about Rs. 30/- in the peak season.
The actual cash cost of photocopying charged by the shopkeeper is a rupee per copy. However her cost is summarized below:
Head Expense
Temni to Sawalmendha & back Rs. 10
Sawalmendha to Bhainsdehi & back Rs. 20
Approx. wages lost Rs 30
Cost of photocopy Re. 1
Total cost Rs. 61

When she reaches Bhainsdehi, she often faces power-cut/load-shedding. If this happens, she needs to come back on some other day, and if this happens the cost can double.

Ø Annexure 8 B :Internet based examination results dissemination at ICT Sawalmendha (cost and time saving)

When the results are declared the normal procedure here is that the results are out in the local and regional newspapers. The newspapers only declare the status of a student whether he is in pass or fail category. The mark sheets are then sent to the principals of respective schools. The process almost takes two to three weeks. Many of the villages where SIRDI ICT Project is working don't even have regular access to newspapers.

So the only mode of getting results for the students is to visit the district place Betul or the nearby town in Maharashtra State Paratwada. To and fro expenses from the nearby villages to Betul or Paratwada range between Rs. 30 to 50. One-way journey is 3 hours to Betul. The cyber cafés in those places charge Rs. 20 for a duplicate mark sheet available on the internet. In case of power failure the students have to wait for hours for getting their work done. It adds to their expenses. On an average a student spends Rs.60 for getting his result.

In the month of June ICT provided this facility at Rs. 10 per result to the students.
Sixty students benefited through this. Considering an average of Rs. 50 per student saved, ICT has certainly saved 60 x 50 = Rs. 3000 over two three days of results dissemination.

Annexure 9: Meetings and Awareness Campaigns

Ø Annexure 9 A: Visit of Smt. Sumitra Mahajan at SIRDI ICT Centre Sawalmendha

On Saturday the 19th July 03, Smt. Sumitra Mahajan former Minister for Information Technology (Government of India) and currently Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas visited SIRDI's ICT Project at Sawalmendha in the afternoon at 2.30 pm. She was accompanied by the local MP from the Harda, (Betul) constituency Shri Vijaykumarji Khadelwal, the District Collector for Betul Mr. Rajnikant Gupta, CEO of Jila Panchayat Mr. Arunkumar Bhatt and other government officials. She was welcomed at ICT centre by Dr. Upma Diwan, Executive Chairman SIRDI. The minister inaugurated an outlet managed by the members of Saathin Federation. Christened as "Sahyog" this store will sell the products of SIRDI supported Self Help Groups for people visiting Sawalmendha.
The minister showed keen interest in the activities of the ICT project and also appreciated the efforts of SIRDI in supporting the Saathin Federation. She was also shown a presentation on SIRDI and ICT's various activities. Entire crew of SIRDI was present on this occasion. Smt. Sumitra Mahajan also interacted with Saathins and other women for a while.

Ø Annexure 9 B: A report on eye camp

SIRDI ICT Project organized an eye camp in the first week of July for the visually impaired people. This camp was held at the cluster villages Dhaba, Kothalkund and Sawalmendha.The camp was held with the co-operation of renowned doctors from the hospital at a place called Padhar. Dr. Bajirao Gawai headed the team of doctors. Eye check-up of 61 patients from various age categories was done. Out of them the persons with severe problems like cataract etc were taken to the hospital for operation. |Ten out of them were operated successfully.

Ø Annexure 9 C: Quiz Competition for the youth

Every year SIRDI celebrates May 26th as "Youth Day". This year to create the awareness about ICT Project and its activities, a quiz competition was organized for the interested youth in the project area. The participants were divided into the groups of four each and given a questionnaire of hundred questions to solve. Twenty participants in five groups participated in the quiz. The winners were given books written by honorable President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as prizes.
An interesting point to note here is that though a boys group won the first prize, a group of girls from Sawalmendha won the second prize.

Annexure 10: Mechanisms for Generating Requests for Help

To reach large numbers of people for requests for help The ICT project team adopted various means. The predominant ones were:

1. Through Saathins
2. Through SIRDI field team
3. Through Self Help Group meetings in the villages
4. By conducting meetings in villages
5. Through distributing the request forms to the teachers in the villages
6. Through sticking posters at various locations in the villages
7. By periodic announcements over the public address system on weekly market days
8. By directly contacting people in the weekly market
9. By installing the complaint boxes in the cluster villages
10. By keeping a bullock-cart roaming with ICT details in the project villages for publicity

Annexure 11: Photographs

Ø Annexure 11 A: Photographs Up to Mid Term Report (January 2003)

Photo Description
Photo 1 The SIRDI ICT Team with the first batch of Saathins selected for computer training - the trusty ICT motorcycle stands at attention ready to take-off at a moment's notice
Photo 2 Announcements about the Agricultural Guidance Camp being made over the Public Address system. We blow our own trumpet, since even information must be marketed, and people induced to come for the camp
Photo 3 Computer centre of the SIRDI ICT Hub at Sawalmendha
Photo 4 A Saathin practicing Hindi on a manual typewriter. When SIRDI started work over 20 years ago, she was one of the sponsored children whose life has been transformed by the project (the reference is not just to the change from skirts to saaris). She now helps others.
Photo 5 A villager filling in a Request for Help form - and half-a-dozen others look on. Once he is satisfied, they too will follow suit…
Photo 6 The deputy director of agriculture responding to a query from the audience. He promised to hold demonstration camps in their villages, if groups made requests - all they had to do for the purpose was to fill in the form at the SIRDI ICT office, and the link-up would be made.
Photo 7 SIRDI ICT Team member filling in a baseline survey form - the city lad too learns a lot about village life in the process
Photo 8 People returning home from their weekly marketing activities at Sawalmendha
Photo 9 Goods for sale being unloaded at the Sawalmendha Market
Photo 10 Sawalmendha - not just a market, but also a place to stand and stare at the interesting real-life sideshows
Photo 11 Aerial view of the Sawalmendha Weekly Market
Photo 12 A trader of low-cost domestic utensils, including used cooking oil tins recycled for storing food-grains
Photo 13 The well-known brass utensils' shop for those who have a little more money to indulge their tastes
Photo 14 Small pleasures for small children for small amounts of money which even the small man can afford - a villager buying sweets and snacks for his kids
Photo 15 The footwear shop - but the barefoot kid passes it by since his pockets are bare
Photo 16 So what if the girl can't come - her father and brother are buying clothiers for her
Photo 17 When you can't afford to foot huge bills for footwear, you haggle - it's not just profitable, it's a lot of fun too.
Photo 18 The freshest vegetables - straight from the farm to the hearth
Photo 19 However, spice to your life is always welcome; even if the chillies are not fresh but dried, they are still mouth-watering (or is it mouth-burning?!)
Photo 20 Saathins intently practicing how to fill request forms in a training camp - they hardly bother with the hardware engineer right behind them
Photo 21 Saathins listening to a presentation in a training camp
Photo 22 Meeting between the SIRDI field team, Saathins and villagers
Photo 23 Watching a computer plus OHP presentation sitting on the floor? High-tech and soft-touch naturally go hand-in-hand if it's a rural internet project
Photo 24 A village level meeting to follow up the Saathin training. Held by candle-light (the bottle in the centre holds kerosene, not liquor!), in a ware-house, it still enlightens all concerned

Ø Annexure 11 B: Photographs after Mid Term

Photo 1 Dr. Upma Diwan Addressing Saathins at Saathin Federation Meeting
Photo 2 ICT Awareness Campaign
Photo 3 A Saathin standing near the ICT bullock-cart in SIRDI ICT Awareness Campaign… Urban people may find it funny but in rural area bullock-carts are still the main mode of transport !!!
Photo 4 Seema Patankar whom SIRDI helped by providing medicines for her baldness.
Photo 5 Seema Patankar with her mother and grandmother called as Dadi in India
Photo 6 Jayna Kasdekar a skin diseased woman for long time, whom SIRDI helped by referring to renowned doctors
Photo 7 An ICT team member convincing the school principal!(?)
Photo 8 Bhola, a poor Tribal student who had to discontinue his education surrendering to his conditions. SIRDI ICT helped him out and now he goes to school with his friends wearing a brand new uniform
Photo 9 Saathin in computer class. Learning new commands!
Photo 10 A lamination machine in operation…
Photo 11 4-in-1 printer being used as a photocopy machine…
Photo 12 Quiz competition for youth organized by SIRDI ICT. Groups of youth keenly discussing the questionnaire !
Photo 13 Smt. Sumitra Mahajan Former Minister of Information Technology (Government of India) and currently Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas in conversation with Dr.Upma Diwan at SIRDI ICT's Centre at Sawalmendha
Photo 14 SIRDI ICT's Franchise Centre at Bhainsdehi
Photo 15 An inside view of SIRDI ICT's Franchise Centre at Bhainsdehi
Photo 16 Front View of ICT Betul Office
Photo 17 The trust-worthy generator at Sawalmendha which was much needed for power back-up!
Photo 18 Doctor Examining an Eye Patient at ICT eye camp

Annexure 12: Miscellaneous

Ø Annexure 12 A: Examination Result (a sample of mark sheet)