IT for Change Case Study

E-Gram Project – A Public Service Telecentre

Initiative of the Government of Gujarat
IT for Change
2008
This case study is part of a research project that sought to analyse how different telecentre models approach
development on the ground, proceeding to elaborate a typology based on the cornerstones of participation
and equity. To conduct this assessment, four telecentre projects were examined: the Gujarat government’s
e-Gram project, the corporate-led venture by ITC called e-Choupal, the private enterprise model of Drishtee,
and the community-owned telecentres of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). Two main
criteria were used in selecting the case studies – the diversity of ownership models, and the requirement of
a sufficient scale of the intervention. In addition to the field research undertaken in 2008, using qualitative
methods, the research also built on secondary sources.
A review of the literature in the field of Information and Communication Technology for Development
(ICTD) shows that while telecentres are viewed as contributing positively to development in general, they
are largely not really seen as a space for catalysing transformative social change. Instead, there remains in
the notion of telecentres for development a perpetuation of market-led approaches, wherein telecentres are
viewed as a strategic means for expanding markets in rural areas, especially for corporates. In this approach,
poor communities are repositioned as an opportunity for business, with ICTs as the most effective way of
connecting them to the global market system. This espouses a version of inclusion that instumentalises
disadvantaged sections, overlooking the potential of telecentres to serve as a tool for equitable and
participatory development. Such subjugation of local development and the local community to neo-liberal
ideology can be seen a the ‘Walmartisation’ or ‘marketisation’ of development (Gurstein, 2008)1.
A critical question for telecentre related policies and programmes therefore examines how ICTs can trigger
structural-institutional changes that promotes overall human development, going beyond exclusive market
frameworks. Based on a critical analysis of findings from the field, the research attempted to examine two
hypotheses. The first relates to the need for the communitisation of ICTD, as is a strong move towards
communisation in other areas of development, like health, livelihoods, education, etc. Second, the development
of an ICT governance regime favouring an open, inclusive and participatory socio-technical architecture. The
latter seeks to empower the peripheries, acting against the strong tendency towards centralisation of power
of the unregulated use of ICTs.
The following analysis of the e-Gram telecentre project will be situated within this larger debate2.

Background and provision of basic Information effectiveness in governance, as

approach to
development
The e-Gram project was
initiated by the Gujarat state
government under the aegis of
the Department of Science and
Technology in 2003 to establish
e-governance in the gram
panchayat3 system. Through the
and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) infrastructure, the
panchayat office acts as a
telecentre, or an e-Gram
centre. The main objective of
this project is to develop the
gram panchayat as the delivery
point of e-services by various
government departments
for enhancing efficiency and
well as to increase community
participation. In addition, it seeks
to improve the access of rural
areas to a variety of commercial
services through a computer-
connectivity backbone.
E-Gram is not just a stand-alone
software application introduced
for improving efficiencies but
 IT for Change Case Study, e-Gram
reflects an attempt towards
the holistic integration of
ICT applications within
the panchayat system. The
efficiencies and accountability
introduced by e-Gram are
supported by ongoing additional
processes of systematic
digitalisation of the various
work processes of the state
government. Such process
engineering that is led by the
demands of the community-
facing front end, as in the case
of e-Gram, may be best way to
undertake a holistic governance
reform programme. In this
scenario, ICTs are positioned
primarily as community
development tools, with a focus
on issues of health, livelihoods,
education, social welfare
and agriculture. The project
focuses on a social welfare
and community development
orientation rather than on a
profit motivated business model
of telecentre development.
ICTD implementation
model and actors
The project operates by means
of a standalone software
application (which means, it can
function whether the computer
is connected to the Internet or
not), developed by the National
Informatics Centre (NIC), the
‘e-Gram Software’. This has been
deployed in nearly 9,000 of the
total 14,000 gram panchayats
within the state, as of late 2007.
The application consists of a
digitised databank of household
information on the basis of which
certificates can be issued at the
panchayat level. The certificates
currently available include birth,
2
death, caste, income and tax
collection. Although the e-Gram
software application itself is
specifically designed for use at
the village panchayat level, it
is increasingly being integrated
into taluk4 and district level
processes as well, leading to
improvements in overall work
efficiencies at all levels.
Internet connectivity has been
introduced in e-Gram villages
in a phased manner through the
public sector telecom, BSNL
network, which in turn enables
linkages with the Gujarat state-
wide area network (G-SWAN).
The online module allows for
issuing of Record of Right of
ownership (RoR) certificates
through synchronisation with
the state data centre containing
digitalised land records. The RoR
is needed for any transaction
relating to agricultural land, and
is, at present, the most important
use of the e-Gram centre in
villages that provide the service.
Some villages also use a satellite
for village-to-village connectivity
called KU Band. The KU Band is
used to relay programmes from
the state level, which include
capacity building programmes on
education, agricultural schemes,
health and child welfare.
In October 2007, the e-Gram
Vishwagram Society (EGVGS),
an autonomous society under
the Government of Gujarat, was
set up to run the e-Gram project.
Through the EGVGS, the state
government aims to transform
every village panchayat office
into a village secretariat (Gram
Sachivalaya), as a single point
contact for all government
services. The secretariat is built
on the principle of a two-way
information flow between the
various levels of administration
in the state – panchayat, taluk,
district and state – by means of
an integrated ICT backbone. The
front end of this system is the
e-Gram enabled panchayat office
at the village level.
Each centre is operated by a
village computer entrepreneur
(VCE) who is selected by a
committee consisting inter alia
of the sarpanch (the elected
head of the gram panchayat)
and the talati (the village level
administrative officer). The VCE
is allowed to charge a nominal,
fixed commission each time
e-Gram software is used for
issuing a certificate. Twenty
percent of the VCEs total
earnings are reverted back to
the gram panchayat in exchange
for the free space and electricity
infrastructure. VCEs also collect
electricity bills for the State
Electricity Board and charge a
commission for each collection.
Many of them also provide
services like printing and digital
photography.
In addition to VCEs, a significant
feature of the Gram Sachivalaya
is a new cadre of community
extension workers called gram
mitras. The gram mitra (meaning
friend of the village) scheme
aims to improve awareness
and the appropriation of
governmental schemes and
benefits by rural citizens. To do
so, it has put in place a system
of extension workers with the
express mandate of information
dissemination and community
mobilisation at the village
level. For every panchayat, five

gram mitras are appointed to
work respectively in the five
areas of agriculture, education,
health, social welfare and rural
development. Gram mitras work
closely with the VCE, leveraging
the telecentre infrastructure
for improving development
outcomes and strengthening
rural governance. Gram mitras
also collect information about,
as well as from, the community,
which is further used to improve
local governance system.
At the district level, the District
Development Officer (DDO)
plays an important role in the
e-Gram scheme, while the
actual implementation occurs
through the District Statistical
Officer (DSO), who is responsible
for all aspects of the project.
All technical matters relating
to e-Gram – maintenance of
hardware, software trouble-
shooting and basic system
monitoring – are out-sourced
to a private company, which
provides the necessary support
through a District Level
Executive (DLE) and several
Taluk Level Executives (TLE) at
the sub-district level.
Development impact –
From public ownership
to communitisation
The e-Gram model brings ICTs to
the service of local governance
and community development.
The gram mitra programme
seeks to improve awareness
of development schemes
amongst the rural population,
while providing opportunities
for rural youth to engage in
development processes in
their roles as gram mitras. The
IT for Change Case Study, e-Gram
Gram Sachivalaya initiative
is designed to strengthen the
presence of the administrative
machinery at the village level. In
India, there are ongoing efforts
towards decentralising all or
most governance functions to
the panchayat levels. The use
of ICTs through the e-Gram
initiative, along with the gram
mitra and Gram Sachivalaya
initiatives, both of which to
some extent depend of ICT
based systems of e-Gram, are
making such decentralisation
possible. The system is allowing
for a re-design of basic state
and district level governmental
processes in a community-
centric manner. Also, greater
awareness amongst rural
citizens of government schemes
and general processes holds
the potential to increase the
accountability of government
functionaries.
At the district level, the DSO
reinforces the bottom-up and
inclusive conceptualisation of
every individual e-Gram centre
as it is placed within the larger
development vision of the
state’s development policies.
Innovations and strategies at
the e-Gram centres are driven
by the development mandate of
the district administration, rather
than by the business motive
of an individual entrepreneur.
It is unlikely that being driven
exclusively by a profit motive
could lead to the realisation
of all the developmental
possibilities that the e-Gram
initiative is opening up.
As reflected above, the
e-Gram model conceptualises
development in a broad manner,
as not limited to economic
concerns alone, but inclusive of
the precepts of participation,
equity and social justice. For
instance, the gram mitra is
involved in enabling a two-
way information flow. Gender
considerations have been taken
into account in the project
design with efforts made by
gram mitras to reach out to and
include women and widows
into programmes. Efforts have
focused on developing a strong
focus on Below Poverty Line
(BPL) families through e-Gram
centres and gram mitras.
Significantly, e-Gram does
leverage private enterprise
appropriately, in ways it can
be best utilised. As mentioned
earlier, technical work is
outsourced, with a private
agency doing all maintenance
and trouble shooting work as per
a pre-fixed fee. The e-Gram VCE
reports to the concerned village
official, talati, for all substantive
purposes, though the concerned
private agency contributes
to monitoring and general
system-upkeep activities.
The revenue sharing model
between the VCE and gram
panchayat also necessitates
transparency in earnings, and
this allows for a mechanism of
checks and balances on income
generation at the e-Gram
centre by the gram panchayat.
Any diversion from the stated
objectives can be monitored,
and revenues earned in turn
provide an incentive for the
gram panchayat to support the
e-Gram centre. Thus a public-
private partnership is built on the
sound principles of retaining full
3
 IT for Change Case Study, e-Gram

public control on core strategic
activities and decisions. Private
entrepreneurial efficiencies
and energies are engaged for
specific tasks where such
outsourcing is unlikely to be able
to impact public good outputs
like community development and
welfare. At the same time, the
system has enough flexibility to
be able to include the provision
of commercial services, without
disturbing the primary public
good orientation of the project.
In proceeding from public
sector principles of welfarism,
participation and equity, the
e-Gram telecentre model thus
provides critical principles for
building an alternative ICTD
and e-governance model to
the dominant private sector
led and entrepreneur-based
model. However, greater
community engagement in
running the e-Gram centres is
required, whereby the centres
do not act as adjuncts to the
administrative machinery alone
but are able to become a locus
for community mobilisation and
activism. At present, it appears
that the e-Gram channel may
get disproportionately used for
state propaganda. For instance,
Internet broadcast channels
are primarily used to relay the
speeches of top politicians and
not for building peer-to-peer
networks. Also, other than
government websites, there
seems to be a ‘white list’ of a
set of about 20 websites which
were deemed as appropriate by
the state government for access
by citizens at e-Gram centres.
There is therefore a need to move
towards greater communitisation
of this otherwise well-designed
public service oriented telecentre
initiative.

Endnotes
1 This case study is part of a broader research undertaking funded by
the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), an independent non-
profit organisation based in New York. The study was commissioned
under the Collaborative Grants in Media and Communications:
Necessary Knowledge for Democratic Public Sphere programme
of SSRC. A detailed analysis of this case study can be requested at
communications@ITforChange.net.
2 Gurstein M. (2008), ‘Towards a Critical Theory of Telecentres: In the
Context of Community Informatics ‘, IT for Change: Bengaluru.
3 Panchayats are village level self-governance institutions in the
Indian administrative system.
4 A taluk is a sub-district level unit in the Indian administrative
system.
Credits
Coordination : Chloé Zollman
Design : Varun Dhanda, Krupa Thimmaiah
Editor : Parminder Jeet Singh, Deepika Khatri
Editorial support : Krittika Vishwanath
Printed by : National Printing Press, Bengaluru
IT for Change is an India-based NGO working
on information society theory and practice from
the standpoint of equity and social justice. Our
work spans a range of development arenas:
gender, education, community media and
governance.

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