Information and Communication Technologies (ict) and Sustainable Development

Knowledge is a primary resource, no less important than land, labour or capital for improving the lives of our people. That it is a vital tool for empowering people to attain Sustainable Development (SD) has long been recognized in India. Since the early years of independence, we have allocated close to 1 per cent of our GNP for scientific research comparable to the percentage spent by some of the most scientifically advanced nations. The budget for scientific research is now somewhere in the region of Rs.15,000 crores—and research is only one of the aspects of knowledge management. We spend a great deal also on making various types of knowledge available, not least to those who can use it to their own advantage. Yet, very little of this money (not even 0.1 per cent) has so far ever been put into research that was of direct relevance to the poor. The idea that knowledge is also needed at the grassroots level does not seem to have occurred to our decision-makers. It is only now, as a result of massive and sustained efforts by civil society organizations, helped by the outcome of a national election that indicated a widespread and growing dissatisfaction by those who feel marginalised by our lopsided policies, that we can hope to see the village for what it is: both a consumer and a potential repository of high quality knowledge. In the rapidly changing scenario, the extensive use of computers, advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the widespread introduction of infrastructure in India made it possible to consider a business model for proliferating information nodes throughout the country in a manner that is financially viable and therefore sustainable. TARAhaat, an ICT enterprise focusing on the needs of village communities was set up by the Development Alternatives Group for precisely this purpose. Today, TARAhaat has shown that there exist a variety of ICT-based products and services that can be provided at the village and peri-urban level at prices that clients can afford and businesses find profitable. Such businesses, called TARAkendras are franchises, essentially local operations owned and run by small entrepreneurs. They quickly become profitable because of the wide spectrum of products and applications, and the technical, managerial and marketing support services they receive from TARAhaat. For these services, the TARAkendra franchises pay a modest fee to TARAhaat. As they grow, they become the core of what Dr M. S. Swaminathan has called Village Knowledge Centres. TARAkendras are capable of bringing in large amounts of processed information from the world outside and also of taking value generating information out to it. Having proved the financial viability of TARAkendras, TARAhaat has now embarked on a programme to demonstrate the ability of its corporate structure and the support services it provides to the TARAkendras to finance themselves from the revenues generated from the franchises. ∗ Development Alternatives, New Delhi, India