Post on 29-Dec-2015
The Rural Scene
• About 2/3rds of India’s rural population engaged in agriculture, accounts for less than 1/4th of the National Income
• In 600,000+ villages (about 1000 people per village with per-capita income of Rs. 20 per day)– per capita GDP of Rs
10,000 per year
• Of the 135 million Rural Households, nearly 102 million have a per-capita income of Rs. 300 per month
102.1
1710
3.9 1.9 1 0.3 0.30
20
40
60
80
100
120
3 9 13 18 26 42 65 112
HH Income in thousand Rs/month
Nu
mb
er
of
HH
in
millio
ns
135 million rural households
Remote Eye Care with Aravind
Hospitals
Can we make a Difference?
• Can technologies make a significant difference?
– Can it bring to them health & Education
– Can it significantly enhance their incomes?
Components of Our Rural Development Strategy
National -
eGovernance Plan – enabling ICT as a
tool for development
National Rural
Health Mission with Rural Sanitation – improving rural
health & well-being
Strengthening Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan with
Universalization of Midday Meal
programme – raising levels of literacy and
educational attainment
Right to Information
Act – enhancing transparency
Comprehensive
Rural Development Strategy
Bharat Nirman – enhancing rural infrastructure
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Programme (NREGP) Act –
targeting lack of opportunities
Government of India’s NeG Plan
NeGP Vision
“All Government services available to the common man in his locality, throughout his life, through a one-stop-shop (integrated service delivery), ensuring efficiency, transparency, & reliability”
LandRecords
RoadTransport
Police
LandRegn
TreasuriesCommrlTaxes
Agriculture
IncomeTax
PassportVisa
DCA21
Insurance Banking
CitizenDatabase
CentralExcise
Pensions
National Action Plan on e-Governance
CorePolicies
Archi-tecture
GatewayBPR
HRDCM
Networks
IndiaPortal
CSC - A Network of
Rural Service Points
across the length
and breadth of India
Yes! A host of them and Successful too!
What we’ve looked at so far…Do ‘CSC Type’ initiatives exist in present times?
The CSC is an attempt to integrate and scale-up such Initiatives through National eGovernance
Plan
The ‘CSC Scheme’ – Rationale, Objective
• CSC - an important component of the NeGP is a network of service points across the length and breadth of rural India
• CSC aims to provide access to information, backed with relevant infrastructure and end-to-end services that would allow rural population, the opportunities to enhance their quality of life
• By enabling access to a large number of services like e-Government, education, health, credit, etc. the CSCs offer a solid foundation for the economic prosperity of rural India
The ‘CSC Scheme’ – Rationale, Objective
• A “CSC” is an internet kiosk in a village with PC+Internet+Printer, etc.
• A CSC would be serving the people residing in the village where it is located and also a catchment of population 5-6 villages surrounding the CSC Village
• Range of CSC Services – B2C(Sale of Agri-Products, IT Training, Railway Tickets, DTP Services, Digital Photography); G2C (Form Downloads, Land Records, Certificates, Online Application Regn., Mandi Rates)
• The CSC Operator (Village Level Entrepreneur) will be selected from the village and provided training. VLE will be responsible for running the CSC business and providing services to the villagers.
Contd…
Who drives the CSC Scheme?
• Government of India – Department of Information Technology (DIT) - Nodal
Agency for NeGP –CSC Scheme- Implementation– IL&FS – National Level Service Agency (NLSA) - is currently
managing the massive initiative of setting up CSCs in 1,00,000+ villages in the country
• State Governments – State Level Agency (SLA) responsible for coordinating
implementation of CSC Scheme
• Grassroots– Service Centre Agency (SCA) – Promoter of Rural ICT
Initiative – Prime Driver of Business and Service Channel Manager
– Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) – CSC (Village Kiosk) Operator
Challenges for the Scheme
Explicit
• Low levels of educational attainment of the rural populace
• Lack of awareness of ICT advancements
• Poor socio-economic status
Implicit
• Lack of understanding of PPP frameworks
• Lack of appreciation of alternate viable livelihood opportunities
• Lack of exposure to innovative practices, technological illiteracy
Opportunities Ahead………..
The Evolution Path
• CSC to evolve into a full-fledged catalyst for a two-way exchange of goods and services between rural India and the world
– CSC as a Focal Point – Value Sourcing from Rural India – Value-added Products/Services – Achieving the Service Pyramid
E-Government Services/Utility Services
E-Commerce / Online Marketplace/Market linkages
Education, Healthcare, Agricultural Extension,
etc.
Entertainment &Community Radio
Data Collection,Rural BPOs
Save Costs
Quality of Life
Social Development
Income Opportunities
Building Livelihoods
Aiming at the Services ‘Pyramid’
Opportunities for Saving Costs
Government Services• Land records• Registrations• Government certificates and forms• Electricity bill payment• Grievances redressal mechanism
Commercial Services• Data entry (affidavits, estimates, resumes, etc.)• Printing, photocopy, bill payments, online ticketing, digital
photography, document scanning, etc.
Banking and Finance• Extension counters for lead banks and micro-finance
institutions
Income Opportunities, Quality of Life
Income-Building • Agri-Procurement – e.g. ITC-IBD, Godrej Agrovet, Tata Chemicals,
Chambal Fertlizers, IFFCO…lately…Reliance and Bharti• Data Collection • Vocational Training and Entrepreneurship – e.g. MICO Bosch • eCommerce – national/international handicrafts procurement
agencies, trade portals such as e-Bay• Bill Collection, Public Grievance Handling
Developmental Services• Education and health services – Apollo Hospitals, Aravind Eye
Care, AISECT, NIIT
Quality of Life Services• FMCG Goods – e.g. toothpaste, nail-cutters, soaps, baby food, OTC Medicines, • Community radio• Cable Service Providers –community television• Astrology, matrimonial services, employment services, etc.
INPUT facilitation
Seeds, Fertilisers, Pesticides, Farm Machinery, Soil Testing
CREDIT facilitation
HARVEST & TRANSPORT OF PRODUCE facilitation
IRRIGATION facilitation
PRODUCTION RISK COVERAGE & PRICE RISK COVERAGE
STORAGE facilitation
Example: A VLE through CSC will offer a Farmer….
KNOWLEDGE / Extension Services Facilitation/ Alternate farming
MARKET INFO, Price Info & Linkage facilitation
Example: IETS Partnership with ITC
ITC-IBD and IETS working together on promoting e-Education (Pilot in 11 villages in Yavatmal)
Value Proposition
– Sanchalak: Round the year revenue potential and social standing
– Student end: Access to education solutions, which help improves their quality of education and their academic performance
– Teacher: Access to programs which helps improve their ability to deliver quality education and increase their revenue potential
Government Support….Viability of Rural Kiosk
• Government has underscored the need for support to achieve sustainability around e-Government services in rural kiosks
• Emphasis is on achieving ‘optimum support level’ that neither discourages or over-incentivizes the SCA/VLE, leading to under-performance
• Over the first phase of the project (i.e. first four years of operation) the ‘minimum’ Opex is nearly 2.5 times of the initial infrastructure cost
• Clearly, the bigger challenge is to cover the revenue gaps and associated risks which arise in rural markets
• To that effect, Government of India (DIT) has proposed a revenue-based governmental intervention and support, rather than a capital subsidy.
• Essentially the Government support will take the form of: – Guaranteed Provision of Government Services:Viability Funding– Debt Service Reserve Fund : Liquidity Support
Government Support…Technology & Connectivity
• Technology Architecture framework being drafted for hardware, software, connectivity options at• CSC Level• SCA Level• SPV Level
• The framework would be made available to the SCAs as well as States
• Initiated discussions with BSNL and other telecom operators for leveraging their rural footprint
• Assessing various options on Language Interface for providing multi-lingual capabilities
• Interacting with State Governments to assess their SWAN implementation status
Business Model for the CSC Scheme
• The SCA will drive the CSC business. Headquartered at a District or Taluk, the SCA will manage the CSCs set up in select villages, manned by VLEs
• SCA and the selected VLE will enter into a business agreement
• SCA will invest in physical infrastructure, develop portfolio of B2C, G2C services, tie-up with Technology Service Providers (TSPs), facilitate bank linkages for the VLE-CSC, train the VLE on new contents, mentor the VLE
• VLE using his clout in the village needs to assess the felt need for ICT-based services, build social capital and business opportunities, make CSC the one-stop-shop for the villagers
Business Model for the CSC Scheme
VLE Business Model
• VLE will invest an amount ranging between Rs. 15,000/- and Rs. 30,000/- as ‘Deposit’ with the SCA.
• VLE will spend on Selection and Training expenses ~ Rs. 2500/-• VLE will have to part with a Revenue Share + Fixed Monthly
service Charge to SCA
In return…VLE will have
• Income from CSC Services• Infrastructure Support for CSC – PC, Internet, Printer, etc.• Access to Training and Mentoring• Bank-linkage – Handholding support from SCA Field Staff for
Loaning Process from Banks• Revenue-Shortfall Support from Government through the SCA
Contd…
Business Model for the CSC Scheme
SCA Business Model
• SCA will invest in Physical Infrastructure, CSC Hardware and Software
• SCA will incur Operational Costs
In return…SCA will receive
• Revenue-Share + Fixed Monthly Service Charge from VLE
• Revenue-Shortfall Support from Government
Contd…
Critical Enabling Factor ...Rural Entrepreneurship
• To carry out all the activities outlined before…a single critical factor stands out …i.e., “Rural Entrepreneurship”
• Rural entrepreneurship, is community based, has strong extended family linkages and a relatively large impact on a rural community.
• A rural entrepreneur is someone who is prepared to stay in the rural area and contribute to the creation of local wealth.
• The economic goals of a rural entrepreneur and the social goals of rural development are strongly inter-linked.
Rural Entrepreneurship - A Novel Approach
• How does a Rural Entrepreneur or Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) get Created?
Usually, Personal Characteristics + Socio-Economic Aspects make a…VLE..
• However, VLE can also be created through a set of supporting institutions and through deliberate innovative action…. And this is where IETS steps in….
Deliberate Innovative Action … in terms of Education and Training. Rural Entrepreneurship Training greatly affects supply of rural entrepreneurs….thus is indirectly an important source of rural entrepreneurship.
Who can be a VLE?
Geography-wiseCandidate belonging to a Rural Location – Village, Gram Panchayat, etc.
Occupation-wiseAny Occupation….One who is running a small business in village, educated unemployed youth, retired government functionaries, Ex-Servicemen, farmer, etc.
Socio-Economic Condition Not relevant…
Personal TraitsSelf-disciplined, willing to serve the community, willing to learn and earn by put learning to practice
CSC – An Opportunity for Army Personnel to Build the Rural Foundation
• The CSC Scheme presents a good opportunity for the Army to retrain and redeploy its strong workforce in peace-time grassroots initiatives
• CSC provides a unique opportunity for Post-retirement pursuits. Every year around 20,000 army personnel of various ranks, retire from their Commissions.
• CSC Scheme is all about Nation Building and Social Entrepreneurship which is all about serving Village Communities through Rural Entrepreneurship
• Army recruitment drive could be further decentralized using CSC as Centres for Awareness Building, Promotion and Receiving Applications
• CSC can provide a unique platform to forge a win-win partnership [Advanced Technology + Disciplined Workforce at Grassroots] aimed at Rural Prosperity
How to participate in CSC?
• IL&FS-IETS is exploring the possibility of associating with the Indian Army in bringing the ex-servicemen and retired army personnel irrespective of their ranks into the CSC fold.
IETS believes…• The Indian Army provides a rich resource-base of
disciplined, capable and determined human force to reckon with for peace-time nation building activities
• A large number of Army personnel serving across the country in different ranks complete their commission term every year and return to the civilian fold – in most cases settle in rural areas
Contd…
IETS Activities• IL&FS Education and Technology Services Limited (IETS) is
promoted by IL&FS
• Key Objectives - Making learning experience-led, interactive, insight-based and stimulating thereby improving the overall quality of education delivery
• IETS is also engaged in undertaking capacity building initiatives for government employees, village level entrepreneurs, NGOs, etc. in the realm of governance and rural entrepreneurship.
• Some of our Initiatives:
Initiative No. Trained
V-Governance Program, Government of Gujarat 2,25,000
V-Governance Program, Government of Rajasthan
16,000
Teacher Training Programs across 1000 schools 25,000
Computer Education Program 1,35,000
IETS Team
• 200 professionals with
over 90 percent working in the operative divisions and the core support functions
• Academicians, administrators, social scientists, policy formulators, consultants and technocrats form
part of IETS’s team. Such
diversity adds to the overall vibrancy and strength of the team
Partnering for Change.…
• IL&FS being the national level coordinating agency, seeks partnerships with like-minded organizations and individuals who share their commitment and passion to enhance the economic landscape of rural India through training and capacity building
• We would be more than glad to guide and
assist interested Parties in their endeavours