South Africans are welcome to come learn how it is using technology for sustainable rural development, says India's Byrraju Foundation.
The Hyderabad-based non-governmental organisation has spent about R315 million in the last five years to electrify 175 villages in six districts of Andra Pradesh state. The funding also provided other services, including telemedicine, low-cost broadband and job opportunities at rural business process outsourcing centres.
Byrraju lead partner Harsh Bhargava says the foundation provides about 2.5 million people 11 major services in support of and with the help of local and state government. "We use technology in every aspect of our work for sustainable rural transformation by unleashing human potential."
Satyam Computer Services chairman Ramalinga Ragu established the foundation in memory of his father and to support India's passion for education. Officials say poor families spend at least 40% of their income on educating the next generation - a task that, unlike in SA, is regarded as a family's top priority.
"The schools already exist," says Bhargava. "All we have to do is improve the quality of education and delivery and give them technology. Satyam officials say rural schools in India now often provide a better standard of education than their urban peers and produce better graduation results."
Boon for the poor
The Byrraju Foundation owns and operates what it says is the world's largest WiFi network - 4 000km2 - to provide villages with cheap communication, e-education and telemedicine.
Each village has a clinic with an auxiliary nurse, says Bhargava, and every three villages are allocated a doctor.
Specialist medical attention previously required parents to take children to nearby towns and cities. This required them to spend money on transport and time away from work, with the consequent loss of wages. Video conferencing has now eliminated this in 70% of cases. "This is a tremendous saving for poor people," says Bhargava.
He especially praised a New York-based paediatrician, who comes online every Friday morning US Eastern Standard Time, to consult patients a world and many time zones away.
Rural BPO
"Since we have the broadband available, we decided to establish three 50-seat, two-shift rural BPO centres," Bhargava says. These are staffed by graduates conversant in English, as well as Hindi and Telugu, a major local language. However, services offered are mostly transaction- not voice-based. Clients include Hyderabad IT companies such as Satyam, but also government and at least one city taxi service.
"The technology is there, the people are there, trained people. We can easily scale up. All we need is assured business."
Bhargava adds that the three centres to date have, on average, completed tasks 34% faster than the time contracted for in service level agreements. This month, the centres did their first work for a major European insurance company.
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