Executive Summary:

The facility of optical fibre network can be utilized for socioeconomic empowerment of citizens in
rural areas. For this we are proposing a plan which employs digital services at an affordable cost.

When the village is online, several initiatives can be planned by government /CSR activities/ start-
ups:

 Tele-education: The wealth of knowledge available on the Internet can be an important

element to support education in small communities. Educational partnerships can be set up:
big schools in developed areas can offer educational support to smaller schools and
communities, by offering remote assistance for grading and teaching. On the other hand,
real problems of the village can be brought to classes for solutions.
 Tele-jobs: In the globalized world economy, many opportunities for tele-jobs are present.
The availability of low-cost, English-speaking, skilled labour can be exploited by international
companies to reduce costs. Customers’ data can be sent digitally from abroad to the workers
in the community, be processed, and sent back. A small isolated village with some
computing capabilities could boost its economy this way. Similar kind of semi-skilled jobs like
data entry can be carried out be villagers at a low cost.
 Assisted health care: Data about an isolated population could be analysed by a remote staff
of doctors in a large hospital. Good results have been observed for a similar project, focused
on eye-care.
 E-post: The opportunities for cheap and reliable communication are important even for
small communities, where a piece of mail can save a day otherwise spent traveling. Mail
messages can be scanned, sent digitally and printed at the destination, with big savings in
time, money and energy.
 E-Farming: Services like soil testing, land survey, organic farming, scientific farming, seed
selection, consultancy on farming methods, consultancy on government schemes etc. can be
provided to farmers which can be extremely beneficial for increasing their production and
overall income. Internet service can offer farmers an opportunity to gain an intricate
understanding of their own business and the ways in which they can improve their yield. It is
a prominent initiative to reduce exploitation and offer guidance in terms of market prices
and interaction with direct consumers.
 Programme focuses on educating villagers to use the internet, who then could impart
training to others in their community and neighbouring villages. Good results have been
observed for a similar project named Internet Saathi Program by Google and Tata Trust.
 The heritage and culture of true India can be only discovered in its unexplored villages. The
handicrafts, artefacts and fabrics of traditional Indian style can be introduced to world
through internet. For this e-commerce industry can take a step by assisting villagers in selling
their product online.
 The problem of unemployment and disguised unemployment in villages can be eliminated if
the skilled manpower of villages is connected to the companies who are searching for
manpower. Internet is the best medium to do so. A placement start-up for this purpose can
be a wonderful start.