Pulkit Vasudha

Pulkit Vasudha

Ahmedabad, August 12: Thirty-Six villages in Unjha taluka of Mehsana district are now connected through the Direct Video Assisted Redressal (DVAR)—that allows them to access their record of rights or hold a video-conference with anyone in any one of the taluka’s villages—under the ‘One Unjha Project’. This is the first time in India that not just an airport, a coffee shop or an urban centre, but an entire taluka is wirelessly connected.

This means that a villager from Maktupura village does not have to make the 15-km journey to the mamlatdar’s office in Unjha anymore to obtain a printout of details of owners, ownership rights, liabilities, land revenues and collection. All he needs to do is to walk into the village panchayat office, log onto DVAR, access his record of rights (ROR) and walk out with the prints minutes later. Elsewhere, villagers have to travel to the mamlatdar office and pay Rs 5 to get a copy of the ROR. While the same fee is charged in Unjha, the villagers are spared considerable travelling time and cost. The mamlatdar’s office is also in the network’s loop.

“Presently, video-conferencing relies on an optical fibre network which is high in cost and is high-maintenance,” says MP Khatri, district information officer of the National Informatics Centre (NIC). “The One Unjha Project provides connectivity to 1,74,000 population of Unjha absolutely free of cost.”

Although already operational, the network between the villages and the mamlatdar’s office will be officially inaugurated by Chief Minister Modi on August 14. The network will soon expanded to the Circuit House and the Collector’s office in Mehasana. Towers are being erected for the purpose.

In the existing network, the villagers can access government sites and the APMC website. The villagers can get updates on commodity prices in real time and APMC traders can bid for their produce without having to bring it to the market.

“The existing Wi-Fi network has a maximum reach of 4 kms. But it can be upgraded to the Wi-Max network in the coming years, which will allow connectivity up to 25 kms,” says Mehsana Collector Ajay Bhadoo.

Once a firewall is in place, the villages would also have broadband internet connectivity. “DVAR has enabled last-mile connectivity, which we had been struggling to achieve in the past,” says Bhadoo. “Though the pilot project is small-scale, internet connectivity can enable tele-medicine, tele-agriculture and tele-education to reach the villages.”

DVAR can also function as an automated video message collection centre for the public and the administration. The webcam in the DVAR system allows people to record their grievances which can be accessed by the assistant collector and collector. The replies of the government officials can also be recorded on the system and viewed by villagers at any time.

The One Unjha Project, entirely funded by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), was developed at a cost of Rs 20 lakh. The software developer, Jasmine Network Solutions, is an Indian company based in Silicon Valley.

“The DVAR network can be expanded to truly empower rural India,” says NRI Himmat Vansdadiya, who conceived and developed the software over a period of seven years.

“The system is completely customised to the needs of rural India. It is not affected by atmospheric conditions, is low-cost, requires low maintenance and minimal computer literacy.” Source: Indian Express

This entry was posted Sunday, August 12th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under News, The Indian Express. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.