Sanchar Shakti

Sanchar Shakti envisages bringing together the combined efforts and contributions of Department of Telecommunication (DoT), Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), mobile and Mobile Value Added Service Providers, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers and their partner NGOs to use ICT to empower rural women. NABARD and U.N Women have also been involved in the development of this scheme.

The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, while launching "Sanchar Shakti" said, real development cannot take root if it bypasses women, who represent the very pivot around which social change takes shape. As we make progress on gender mainstreaming, more and more women will become full partners in many activities of the nation and society. She said, rural women will become both users and enablers of ICT service with the launch of this scheme. Under the scheme Mobile Value Added Services are being designed to provide a variety of useful information to women about health, social issues, and government schemes, as also livelihood related inputs and training over their mobile phones, she added. It is intended that while the targeted group will benefit through improved skills and livelihoods, the overall rural community will get access to facilities such as locally available mobile repair and solar mobile charging centres.

Sanchar Scheme

The Sanchar Shakti scheme includes four categories of projects aimed at rural women’s SHGs:

1. Provision of subsidized mobile VAS subscription to SHGs with a service validity/warranty of at least one year
2. Setting up of SHG run mobile repair centers in rural areas
3. Setting up of SHG run modem repair centers in rural areas
4. Setting up of SHG run solar based mobile/CDMA FWT charging centers in rural areas

Under the mobile VAS project category, seven pilot projects will be initiated in the different parts of India. The projects are aimed at the facilitating women’s SHGs’ access to ICT enabled services and creation of employment opportunities in the area of ICT enabling services. About 15,000 SHG members are expected to benefit from these initial mobile VAS pilot projects. The details of Lead Executing Agency and location of the mobile VAS Pilot Projects are as follows:

1. Tata Tele Services Limited--Uttar Pradesh
2. Sasken Communication Technologies Limited--Tamil Nadu and Kerala
3. Reuters Market Light--Maharashtra
4. Reuters Market Light--Uttarakhand
5. Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Private Limited--Tamil Nadu
6. Videocon Telecommunications Limited--Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
7. Vodafone Essar South Limited--Andhra Pradesh

The mobile VAS projects would focus on providing the women SHG members with a bundle of informational inputs which are pertinent to their livelihood/entrepreneurial activities and lifestyles. This would comprise information related to markets and financial products, skill enhancement, health, social issues and Government schemes. The mode of delivery would include short messaging service (SMS) and interactive voice response systems (IVRS). The content and its delivery will be specially customized for the SHG members keeping in mind aspects of socio-cultural background, literacy, language and gender sensitivity. Training and facilitation and monitoring and evaluation would form an integral part of the projects which shall be completed by Jun-July 2012.

The current Scheme should also serve the purpose of increasing tele-density, as well as broad band connectivity in rural areas, enabling the rural populace to join the cyber community and in this way, bridge the digital divide. With the creation of ICT-skills sets, in rural areas, over a period of time, these areas can become centers for the consumption and production of various ICT goods and services, including hubs for processing outsourced work.

The learning from these Pilot Projects would play a crucial role in framing of future strategies for the empowerment of rural women through ICT. It is envisaged that the success of this scheme would encourage Government and private agencies to use ICT enabled services to reach out to rural women as target beneficiaries of empowerment initiatives and as a potential market segment respectively.

What is USOF?

• The Universal Service Obligation Fund of India came into being with retrospective effect from April 01, 2002 with the passing of the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act 2003, in December 2003.
• The Fund which is headed by the Administrator, USOF has a mandate of providing access to Telegraph (Telecommunications) Services to people in rural and remote areas at reasonable and affordable prices.
• The Fund has already rolled out a large number of schemes aimed at promoting public and individual access to telephony and broadband services in rural India. These include schemes for Village Public Telephones (VPTs), Rural Community Phones (RCPs), Rural Household phones (RDELs), Mobile Infrastructure and Services, Wire Line Broadband, Intra-district OFC Networks etc.
• In recognition of the requirements of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), USOF has also undertaken gender specific initiatives; like preferential allocation of broadband connections to women’s SHGs has been incorporated in the USOF Wire Line Broadband Scheme.
• A special scheme for provisions of broadband enabled Rural Public Service Terminals to SHGs has been incorporated in the Fund’s activities. These terminals will enable SHGs to provide banking, financial services and other broadband enabled Value Added Services (VAS) to the rural population.