Networking Technology At Work In Rural India

abhikhurana writes "Whenever a news item about a plan to offer aid to a poor community in a developing country to set up an Internet backbone or any similar story is posted on Slashdot, there is always a debate among the readers if there is any point in spending so much money on such activities when people in such communities don't have basic amenities like clean drinking water. So when I came acorss this story, I decided to post it to slashdot. It's about new software developed by Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, which allows video conferencing on low-bandwidth connections, and the impact this technology is having on the small rural communities where it has been deployed."

Comments

Census of India 2001 is an eye opener

[civilengineer]

The census of India 2001 ( a site Site Optimised for Netscape! )came out recently and is covered in India Today ( this article is not free however. Check your local library for a copy of the magazine. Its very interesting)
The 2001 Census data has information on Houses, Household Amenities and Assets in India and has very interesting findings. It seems there are some 2.4 million places of worship in the country, as against 1.5 million schools and colleges and a mere 600,000 hospitals and dispensaries. No wonder there is so much unnecessary religious strife.

The point is, there is a lot of opportunity for growth and innovative technology is greatly needed there to increase the level of education and quality of life there. The question of which technology is most needed first is very difficult to answer.

Re:Census of India 2001 is an eye opener

[The Cydonian]

The 2001 Census data has information on Houses, Household Amenities and Assets in India and has very interesting findings. It seems there are some 2.4 million places of worship in the country, as against 1.5 million schools and colleges and a mere 600,000 hospitals and dispensaries. No wonder there is so much unnecessary religious strife.

My ancestral village has 121 (Hindu) temples, 3 (Muslim) mosques, one (Christian) church, and five ancient Buddhist sites, in addition to about 10 or so secondary schools, two junior colleges, and, I believe, a recently set-up engineering college. There's a government health center somewhere, in addition to a couple (may be 5 or 6) privately-run hospitals and dispensaries. And yeah, there's one police station with three constables and one Sub-Inspector.

No, we never had riots as far as anyone can remember.

Before you read the 2001 Census Report, or that shiny worthless rag, India Today, may I point out to a more useful site on logical fallacies? In particular, you'll note the similarity between your implied reasoning ("India has more religious structures than schools or hospitals. It also has a lot of religious strife. Therefore, the large number of religious structures causes strife.") and a logical fallacy called coincidental correlation.

By way of proof, I recommend Ashish Nandy's excellent tome, Exiled At Home, to really understand communal strife in India. Here's a short thesis:- 'Communal' riots are among the most secular phenomena in modern India. They have more to do with oppurtunistic politicians (of all religions, obviously), and a police force badly in need of reform, rather than heightened religiosity, or even, that Great Indian Distraction, Ayodhya.

RTFA?

[sbwoodside]

Why do the people of Slashdot ask dumb questions without reading the article?

Since you're probably long gone I'll summarize for you:

0. In rural India, it's often really hard to get to places due to very poor roads, that get washed out in the rain, and the population is very broadly distributed on farms.

1. A teacher in the city can educate children in a rural area. (viz., telecommuting)

2. Doctors can run virtual clinics for villagers to give them medical advice.

3. Scientists can have meetings with local farmers to give them crop advice.

All of these things are IN DEMAND by the people who had a chance to try them out.

simon