By Shefali Saxena:
If the rural population in India learns to Google, the face and demographics of our motherland shall technically and ironically go under a plastic surgery. With the setting up of Computer Centers in villages in the rural India, there will be a dramatic and strong wave of advancement that will fuel development. If the Government and any non-governmental organization happen to succeed in taking computers to all villages, with internet facility duly available, the 20% share of the 80% rural areas in the national income shall do away with all economic and social obstacles in growth and development.
With the idea of setting up computer centers, one thing should be made very clear that all the inhabitants of the villages should get a fair chance to learn, discover and use this valuable invention in a constructive way for the betterment of their country and their own socio-economic and educational status. Every girl, every married or unmarried woman, widow, spinster, should be given an opportunity with some kind of compulsion to learn how to use computers and know what wonders can they do to their lives. Because the rural areas in India are still male dominated, hence the women along with the men should stand an equal chance to use and learn how to operate computers.
The 60 percent of Indians whose primary occupation is agriculture should be individually taught how to use internet and computers as a medium to improve their agricultural practices and use the technological advancement to the best of their interests. Via video conferencing, agricultural experts can communicate with a large number of farmers to make them understand the new yielding technologies, and suggest measures in case the food grains fail to grow on time. The graphical presentations or the 3-D diagrams of various agricultural lands and crops with animation should be shown to the rural citizens to understand visually in an easy manner as to how can they improve upon the rudimentary methods of farming.
Besides farming, setting up of computer centers can be astoundingly beneficial for the students and children who fall in the school going age-group. They can be shown and taught with various encyclopedias and videos on the Internet to make learning an easy process and visually appealing. Diagrams and photos of anything and everything will surely make them understand and learn the subjects better. Beside other subjects, the setting up of computers can be highly beneficial to introduce and teach computer applications and computer science including languages and programming in java and C++. The rural students can hence get a better chance to study the latest subjects in the right manner.
Another great outcome of computer centers can be the management of mails and data for and by the citizens for all surveys and postal. Any important information can travel within a fraction of a second to the rural areas, adding to their benefits. They can also watch news channels and TV via Live TV or 3-G technology on the internet which will be a life-changing experience for those places in India who have lost all hope to get cable connection. Moreover, this can connect the rest of the world with local Panchayats once they have their very own websites.
Computer centers can change the rural infrastructure, education and standard of living dramatically, only if it is implemented and timely managed by people in authority, duly catering to any kind of problem and hindrance in communication and usage. The rural population should be forced and persuaded to use this technology to their benefit, which requires immense honesty on the policy formulators’ part. The mere set up shall not do wonders. It will be the timely management and service to offer help and guidance to the rural areas, especially making it mandatory for women to participate under strict security, free from rural pressures and orthodox ideology of their family members. Because it is the women who are capable of carrying forward a great future for development; besides, they can benefit from it by taking healthcare tips and mutual discussions with and on internet under the able guidance of far away doctors and experts.
With organizations now taking the plunge into rural technology and building businesses around it, the digital media revolution has already begun.