– Rural India takes a byte of e-smartness

Rural India is benefitting more and more from the IT revolution.. here is another article on this subject

It’s a byte that’s going to get them far. E-governance is making a headway in rural India and already, 90 such projects are under way.
In fact, a report by Skoch Consultancy Services, an IT and telecom advisory firm, says that spending on e-governance projects is expected to surpass Rs 5,000 crore by 2007.

Ask Bhoopal Reddy, sarpanch of Choutuppal village in Nalgonda district, AP, how his village benefited from it. “Previously, it used to take at least three days to locate relevant files in government departments. Now, we can do it in a few hours with the help of software,” he says.

His village boasts of an e-panchayat — a website from where one can download applications and also get information on house taxes, trade licenses, old age and widow pension schemes and land record maintenance. Some of the villagers were in Delhi recently to participate in an e-governance summit organised by Skoch.

Not only can the public access financial statements of the panchayat, but it can also learn agriculture management through CDs, says K Narsimhachary, the computer operator there.

“There is greater transparency and many villagers are interested in learning computers,” he says. This e-panchayat has been operational for about six months and the website is in Telugu and English.

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