E-INCLUSION- A STEP TOWARDS COMMUNICATION INCLUSION

PRESENTED BY:Nibir Mahanta P.G.D.M. (1ST Year) Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies
INTRODUCTION

Mankind of 21st century has been gifted with the invaluable asset of technology which helps us to sooth our life and at the same time offers us opportunity to explore various avenues that would ensure the growth of mankind exponentially. New concepts and technical ideas spring up almost every day (like Cloud Computing) which, if materialise, will make human kind a race to be envied. But technology has been able to serve only those who can afford it. There is a general inequity among the masses in terms of enjoying the harvest of technological benefits. Financial inclusion has undoubtedly helped underprivileged people to enjoy financial assistance and has been able to achieve inclusion in the mainstream though the level of inclusion is not uniform throughout the country. It is often argued that the 21st century is the Century of Knowledge and knowledge holds the key to ones prosperity and development. If technology can be used effectively, then it will not only serve as a tool for disseminating knowledge among all sections of the society but at the same time it will serve as a platform for bringing all sections of the society together and thereby it will ensure that all will march on the paths of progress at an equal rate. By technology, I am specially reffering to Information Technology which can be used as a tool for Communication Inclusion and thereby achieve EInclusion in the long run for every member of the Society.

ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of Internet and Information
Technology as a tool for E-Inclusion which will ultimately lead to Communication Inclusion and also propose a model to achieve the same.

Methodology/Design: The data that is cited here are all secondary data and the model
proposed here is an independent one and doesnt contain any legal binding. All the sources of data have been cited at the end of the paper in the Reference section.

Outcome/Findings/Suggestions: The outcomes/findings/suggestions are that of the

author alone and are not of legally binding nature. The suggestions chiefly refer to the steps that can be undertaken to achieve total E-Inclusion.

DEFINITION OF E-INCLUSION
E-inclusion is a social movement whose goal is to end digital divide that exists among various classes of society .According to advocates of E-inclusion, it has the power to close the gap between developed and less developed societies; promote democracy and mutual understanding and empower disadvantaged individuals, such as the poor, the disabled, and the unemployed.

DIGITAL DIVIDE
Digital Divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at the different socio-economic levels with regard to their opportunities to access Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their use of Internet. It reflects differences among and within countries (Reference- Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) 2001). Digital Divide exists in various other categories as well viz. community, individual etc. Digital Divide includes the inaccessibility to use the

Information technology as well as the lack of unavoidable resources and skills that is essential to use technology to enable participation in a technically advanced society. Digital Divide is measured in terms of the following elements:1. Disparity/Gap in access to use ICT 2. Inability to use ICT 3. Gap in actual use, i.e., difference in the amount of access and ability to use ICT and the actual use of ICT. 4. Gap in the impact of use, i.e., economic and financial benefits derived. Digital Divide can be broadly categorised into the following categories:1. Teledensity Divide: The total telecom subscribers in the country are 874.68 million in

May 2011 as per TRAIs press release. Of them 66.38% constitute of the urban population whereas 33.48% belong to rural India. The telecom density is reported to be 73.11. The overall urban teledensity is 161.37 and rural teledensity is 35.15.From the figures, it is clear that rural India is lagging much behind as compared to their urban counterpart as regards to telecom access as well as usage. The teledensity divide as such can be considered as a major hindrance in achieving E-inclusion.
2. Mobile Divide: Mobile has become an inseparable entity in urban life. Besides

providing communication, mobile nowadays also serve as a source of entertainment with the advent of better in-built sound system, cameras and media players. The introduction of 3G technology has nowadays made it almost synonymous to a palmtop computer. As per TRAIs May 2011 press release, total mobile/wireless subscriber base in India is 840.28 million. 66.02% of them hail from urban India whereas 33.98% have their location in rural background. The mobile density in India is estimated to be 70.23. For the urban population, wireless density is calculated to be 154.18 whereas in rural India it is merely 34.13. The disparity among urban and rural India is crystal clear and it doesnt need an Einstein of a genius to guess how little access the rural population has as compared to the urban dwellers. Another interesting aspect in this case is that more than 88% of the market share is held by private operators whereas a meagre 11% of the total share is under the two PSUs- BSNL and MTNL. If this mobile divide is to be brought to an end, then the private companies must be forced to take up some special plans to provide network coverage in rural areas. The private companies may be lured by the prospect of lesser taxes for rural consumers. Another interesting offer might sound like this: If a company offers 100% coverage to an entire state then there will be a discount offered to the license renewal fees.
3. Internet Divide: The total broadband subscribers in India are registered to be a meagre

12.12 million as per TRAIs May 2011 report. Internet penetration is around 5% which shows just how dismal Indias performance is in comparison to other developed nations. Unless this disparity is sorted out, E-inclusion will remain a dream only.

INITIATIVES FOR E-INCLUSION

Private Sector Initiatives Microsoft Corp, the world's largest software maker, has signed MoUs with nine State governments around the country, and has committed $20 million to promote computer literacy among disadvantaged kids in rural areas. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Global Leaders Of Tomorrow (GLT) of the World Economic Forum (WEF), have launched an initiative called 'Shiksha India' in December 2001 during the India Economic Summit primarily to bridge the digital divide and promote better quality education in Indian Schools. A three-year alliance between Hewlett-Packard and the state of Andhra Pradesh has been formed to build an HP i-Community in Kuppam, a community of 320,000 people in four rural villages. An HP i-Community is a major initiative of HP's e-inclusion vision. It is a concept in which information and communications technology is strategically deployed to help improve job creation, income opportunity and access to government, education and healthcare services.

NIIT: As part of the initiative, a "Swift net-connect" programme was launched in association with NIIT, with the objective of spreading awareness on the benefits to (internet) through an affordable education course designed to help people explore the world of PCs and the Internet. In the last 3 months of running of this programme, over 13000 people across 183 NIIT centres have benefited from it learning the various usages of the internet. IL&FS: IL&FS Education and Technology services has launched an Internet and PC basics course called 'Connected Indians' which will educate youth in small towns on the benefits of Internet and role of technology in improving lives. This course is available in Bihar and Dehradun at present. Intel, in partnership with BSNL and Itz Cash, has launched the very innovative ePCO initiative aimed at transforming PCOs in India through broadband and PCs to deliver the benefits of Internet. Till date, ePCO has reached 5 States - Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra and Karnataka. DEF: To spread awareness at grass root level, Intel has tied up with a Delhi-based NGO Digital Empowerment Foundation. ICT is a great tool for development and empowerment is being realized world over. DEF offer and facilitates seamless ICT and digital solution based on the diverse needs amongst rural population. It also provides knowledge inroads to Government and corporate to offer ICT solution for masses. Intel with its mission of empowering a technology driven India is one of the partners in this initiative.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES Digital Panchayats: In an initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide in rural India and e-empowering the local governing bodies. It has been set up in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Digital Panchayat will primarily focus on areas of governance,

health, enterprise, agriculture, tourism, employment, education, culture, tribals, gender and microfinance. e-Governance -National e-Governance Plan: A major initiative of the Government for ushering in e-Governance on national scale,called National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was approved on 16th May 2006. NeGP consists of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) encompassing 9 central MMPs, 11 State MMPs and 7 integrated MMPs that span multiple backend Ministries/ Departments. It also includes 8 program support components aimed at creating the right governance and institutional mechanisms, core infrastructure, policies & standards and the necessary legal framework for adoption of e-Governance in the country. It is implemented at the Central, State and Local Government levels. The major activities under the National e-Governance Programme relates to setting up of State Wide Area Network, Common Service Centres, Horizontal Transfer of e-Governance Projects and other initiatives in the form of Pilot Projects. The basic aim of these activities in broader terms is to make all Govt. Services accessible to the common man in his locality. Such schemes are aimed at Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes along with others and hence such programs would indeed be helpful in passing on the benefits to the needy and desirable target population. National Knowledge Network: Government had decided to establish a National Knowledge Network with scalable multi-gigabit capabilities which will connect 1000 nodes covering all universities, research institutions, libraries, laboratories, hospitals and agricultural institutions across the country. The initial phase of the National Knowledge Network was inaugurated by the Honourable President of India on 9th April 2009. In the initial phase, a core Backbone consisting of 15 Points of Presence (PoPs) has been established with 2.5 Gbps capacity. Around 76 institutions of higher learning and advanced research have already been connected to the network and 6 virtual classrooms have been set up. Indian Languages Technologies: To enable wide proliferation of ICT in Indian languages, the Department has taken a major initiative to make available Software tools & fonts in various Indian languages freely to the general public. Software tools & fonts for 22 constitutionally recognized Indian Languages have been released in public domain for free mass usage.

Targeted Schemes
In addition to the above, DIT is implementing 14 schemes which have earmarked allocation for development of Women and SCs/STs. The schemes are as under: IT for Masses The Department of Information Technology under the plan scheme IT for Masses has initiated several projects for SC/ST empowerment in the area of ICT. DIT has funded various projects in different States for Training, Capacity Building and Entrepreneurship Creation. The total numbers of SC beneficiaries are 14771 under various projects implemented / being implemented. The total numbers of ST beneficiaries are 8111 under various projects implemented / being implemented. DOEACC

DOEACC offers all its courses ranging from M. Tech to short-term courses to all the candidates including SC/ST and no tuition fees is charged from SC/ST candidates. The DOEACC Society and Kohima trained 902 candidates in 2007-08 and in 2008-09 2618 candidates. The DOEACC Society operating at Aurangabad, Calicut, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Kolkata and Srinagar/Jammu trained 369 candidates. Similarly in 2008-09, 1909 candidates have been trained. Setting up of RIELITs at Kohima (Nagaland) and Agartala (Tripura); (ii) Setting up of DOEACC Centres at Shillong (Meghalaya) and Gangtok (Sikkim) and towards the Project on Training of Teachers in E-Learning being implemented by DOEACC Imphal Centre. The Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification Directorate (STQC) of the Department of Information & Technology, in the past, have done some training programmes for the benefit of SC/ST candidates. These included courses like: a) Post diploma in quality test engineering (1 year duration); b) Electronics manufacturing technology (3 months duration); c) Process automation (3 months duration). These programmes were supported by National SC/ST Commission. STQC has already trained more than 200 SC/ST candidates through these trainings. Most of these candidates have already been employed by the industry. In 2007-08, 208 beneficiaries have been trained. In 2008-09, 200 beneficiaries have been trained.

STQC

CONSTRAINTS IN E-INCLUSION

Poor Connectivity in rural areas Limited Internet accessibility Limited Bandwidth: There is a growing need for more bandwidth to support the spectacular growth in cellular telephony. Besides, catering the sheer increase in the number of subscribers, greater bandwidth is also needed for value added and better quality service Infrastructure barriers: Electricity is the most basic condition for using ICTs and many studies established that relationship between the level of electrification and digital divide. Rural India has low electricity coverage. Almost 10 per cent villages of India have no electricity Literacy & skill barriers: Improved training and skill development has to be a critical part of an employment strategy. Both Tenth and Eleventh Plan noted the large gap between the number of new entrants to the labour force and inadequate availability of seats in vocational and professional training institutes. The Eleventh Plan also identified various sectors with prospects for high growth in output, and for generation of new employment opportunities. Economic Barriers: India ranks 81 in ICT Price Basket for the year 2009 while a considerable part of the population lives below the poverty line. Unless and until the economic constraints are done away with, E-Inclusion will remain merely a dream.

PARAMETERS TO MEASURE E-INCLUSION

The following parameters are suggested to gauge the progress of E-Inclusion:
1. Gaps in Internet Usage : The gap in Internet Usage by the average Indian population

and use by older people, people with physical disabilities, women, lower educational groups, unemployed and comparatively lesser developed regions of the country.
2. Geographical Divides: To measure the disparities in Internet Usage across India and to

increase the availability of broadband coverage in places where earlier Internet was inaccessible.
3. Inclusive E-governance: Designing and delivery of key services in an efficient way

using proper channels, utilities and intermediaries so that beneficiaries achieve maximum benefits.
4. Digital Literacy: Reduce the digital literacy gap among the unemployed, people with

lower educational levels, physically disabled people and elderly persons. In this case, special attention needs to be paid to people with lower education, economically inactive groups and elderly people.
5. E-Accessibility: All the public websites should be made accessible to the entire

population.
6. Broadband Coverage: Reduce the gap between the broadband coverage in urban areas

and rural areas.

REFERENCES:1. http://www.e-inclusionsite.org/ 2. www.hp.com/e-inclusion/en/project/kuppam.pdf 3. www.disabilityindia.org/ e-inclusion.cfm 4. http://www.digitallearning.in/articles/article-details.asp? articleid=2366&typ=POLICY%20MATTERS

5. OECD Information technology Outlook 2010 6. www.thinkinnovation.org/en/blog/tag/e-inclusion/ 7. RIGA DASHBOARD - European Commission 8. www.mit.gov.in