Information, communication and technology for rural development ...will it really help??

Gandhiji once said "India lives in her village ".According to 2011 census 70% of the population lives in villages ,hence development of rural areas shall reflect the development of the whole economy .Information is power and power is information ,without information there can be no growth

Benefits :-

Education- It can be summarize in 3 words "knowledge is power" .Government should encourage the use of ICT in schools ,collages and educational institutions .Internet and world wide web usages opens up the modern world of information , facts and communication with respect to students. Indira gandhi national institute of open education can help the women to acquire education online

E-Governance :- E Governance can provide timely information to the citizens and have the potential to spawn innovative means of wealth generating in rural areas .It helps government to directly provide services to the people and mitigate the intermediaries which further results to tackle corruption

E-banking :- Rural banking started in India since the establishment of banking sector .IT plays an important role in development of banks .Services like online money transfer, balance checking ,payment of bills can easily be done through mobile which bolster the standard of living of rural people

Encouraging social transformation:- Access to information is of fundamental importance to any development process. The recent development of ICT is greatly facilitating the flow of information and knowledge, beyond the border of social and economic status. In this context, ICTs are now widely recognized as a critical tool to tackle development issues in developing countries which ultimately lead to social transformation.

Enhancing people’s participation in nation building process:- The importance of communication in mobilizing people and seeking their willing participation in the development process of a country is well recognized. In India, this concern about reaching people, communicating with them and equipping them with new skills have been emphasized over and again in successive five year plans which provide the blue print of the country’s planned development. In a developing country like India – ICT is regarded as one of the key elements in modernizing agriculture, in producing healthy, literate and trained workers for industry and for bringing about effective participation in nation building activity. All these together contribute immensely for making rural development a reality

DRAWBACKS

Low digital literacy
No infrastructure
High cost

Government Initiative :-

Common service centers :- CSC is one of the missions of digital India initiative .It means providinf E-service to government to rural and remote areas where computers are negligible

Plan plus :- It helps in preparation of participatory Gram panchayat development plans

AKASHGANGA :- ICT is being used by Akashganga to help the milk producers of rural areas by making cooperative
societies and procuring milk and assists in maintaining accounts.

Today Urban and semi urban areas are blessed with different modes of media which has
virtually changed their lifestyle. In the rural arena, various successful e-governance
initiatives, the improvement of it infrastructure and many ICT projects for development
are giving hope to abolish the digital divide in India .The need of the hour is to invest further in ICT in rural areas for good governance.