[cr-india] Raghav FM turns ICT Entrepreneur

[sanjay]

Hi Osama,
Fantastic Job.

Sanjay Mohapatra
Editor
VARIndia
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Osama Manzar 
  To: eGovINDIA at yahoogroups.com ; bytesforall_readers at yahoogroups.com 
  Cc: 'Sanjeev Chopra' ; asanyal at mit.gov.in ; 'Shubhendu Parth' ; anilg at iimahd.ernet.in ; Alok.Bhargava at ilfsets.com ; 'Ninad Vengurlekar' ; asegov at mit.gov.in ; aruna.sundararajan at gmail.com ; md at medialabasia.in ; asif.syed at yahoo.com ; 'Prof. P. K. Sinha' ; 'Kris Dev' ; tvsinha at gmail.com ; chanchal.kumar at nic.in ; viveksingh89 at hotmail.com ; sudhir at bhojpuria.com ; 'Manthan Award' ; 'Harivansh' ; M.Bahl at ilfsets.com ; cr-india at sarai.net ; 'Sonu Jain' ; ajayjha at colostate.edu ; rajiv.vidyarthi at gmail.com ; sulabhacademy at vsnl.net ; aksinghsacademy at dishnetdsl.net ; amlan.goswami at gmail.com ; abhitamhane at gmail.com ; 'Sanjay Bapat' ; sanjay at varindia.com ; ranu.sinha at in.pwc.com ; graminunatti at gmail.com ; hrd.secy at gmail.com ; skbarnwal at gmail.com ; info at merinews.com ; 'Nishant' 
  Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 4:58 PM
  Subject: Raghav FM turns ICT Entrepreneur 


  Raghav FM turns ICT Entrepreneur 

  By Pritam Sinha
  Mansoorpur, Vaishali, Bihar

  After a lot of media blitz, the popular FM Radio Mansoorpur got shut down one sad day, last year. It meant a lot for the two young men Raghav Mahto and his DJ friend Sambhu who pioneered and popularized the community radio in a small village hamlet in Vaishali district. In fact, the entire villages of Mansoorpur along with its neighbouring villages whose life around music was synonymous with Raghav FM Radio went into mourning.

  For Raghav, it meant the end of not their only source of livelihood; the closure also gravely affected their enthusiasm to do something new in life. After all, it was such a novel invention that people were made to sit up and take notice far and wide than the radius of the FM they were transmitting. Although Raghav's FM radio never tried or made money through broadcasting, but because of its popularity, his electronics shop was a center booming business for anything and everything related to electronics, repairs, and so on.

  In came Digital Empowerment Foundation to their support. The Delhi based organization had visited the place just days before its inevitable closure. Being an organization with a focus on ICT for empowerment at the grassroots level, it decided to support the ingenious minds by giving them support at various level. For example, computers to explore and 'experiment' in the hope that the young man might make something out of this electronic gadget out of the ordinary the way he transformed the simple radio.

  Perhaps Raghav's wish that he would like to experiment with the VCD one day and make the video seen in neighbouring areas without the use of the cable was stuck somewhere in DEF's think-tank (Please see DEF's exhaustive report on Raghav FM before it got closed down at www.defindia.net). As everybody knows, a PC usually has the CD drive attached to it. But, all experiments need time and the immediate future of the boys had to be addressed immediately. 

  Formation of Raghav Samaj Kalyan Sansthan
  DEF suggested to Raghav to form a social forum and also gave him some financial help to start afresh in life post Raghav Radio FM. Thus "Raghav Samaj Kalyan Sansthan' was born on 6th Aug '06 with 22 members and one computer. One of the first things that came to the members' mind was the lack of a computer education centre and the urgent need and utility of one such thing for the village children. 

  Sensing a business opportunity, Raghav quickly hired a two room block in front of his old Priya Electronics shop and started Community Information Resource Centre (CIRC) supported by Digital Empowerment Foundation, New Delhi. He invited the local village children to learn the nuances of a tin box look like thing with a TV like face attached to it. Being an illiterate person himself, he quickly went in search and found one computer teacher who had done some basic computer diploma course from nearby Hajipur.

  Thus, slowly but surely the computer bug hit the village folk. Children immediately took to the computer and started exploring simple computer peripherals like CPU, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Printer etc. Gradually, everybody took a fancy to PaintBrush and the word of the mouth spread quickly, particularly among school going children. Soon Raghav could not cope with the rush on a single machine. He needed another one and DEF provided him with two machines to further his ambition of making Mansoorpur computer savvy. A laptop was also given in time to make the centre look modern. With every parcel DEF gave him other supports in terms capacity and so on. The centre boasts of a roaster full of 30 names.

  Day-to-day bottlenecks
  Electricity in a typical Bihar village is something of a luxury at best of times. So, Raghav purchased a generator set with the money to make regular computer learning possible. There is an interesting story behind being enabled to buy the generator. Late last year, through DEF, Raghav got a chance to set-up closed circuit FM transmission for an ICT Consultation by Nasscom Foundation, where the purpose was to make the invitees and practioners who had come from villages to listen the proceedings in their own language. So, from the interpretation box, Raghav connected its equipment and broadcasted the Hindi version which could be heard through cheap FM receivers given to each one of the invitees. For doing this, Raghav got Rs. 10,000 and he put the entire money in procuring generator.

  Of course, the generator needs diesel which costs money. So, a token amount of Rs. 50 is being charged per student to take care of this running cost. Also, the computer teacher needed some incentive read money to sustain his family. As of now, he is charging nothing and giving his time and knowledge for free. But for how long can he sustain his enthusiasm is a point to ponder. During the visit, in a brief felicitation ceremony, in fact, this point was raised albeit in a hushed tone.

  What's happening at CIRC?
  CIRC at Mansoorpur provided by DEF to pursue the entrepreneurship in Raghva, is showing great results. There is a buzz in the village, and kids are the biggest attraction for the CIRC. Instead of painting in their notebooks, small children see it taking shape on a computer screen. They are also enamored by typing on MS Word or Excel and PPT. Perhaps to teach them from the very beginning that nothing comes in life absolutely free, Raghav & his friend Sambhu charges a nominal amount i.e. Rs. 50 per student.

  These small acts of children are revolutionizing the way village children see the world outside of their own. They punctually come here at the designated time to learn computer. For this initialization to the peripherals is a fascinating opportunity for them to try and widen their worldview. In small twinkling eyes we could definitely see the hope of a better tomorrow where they are able to find computer related jobs in big cities. Perhaps for them, there are so few opportunities available to grow that they want to outclass the others in whatever manner possible.

  The Road Ahead: Internet, English & Community Radio
  Apart from this business of running a computer teaching centre, Raghav finds time to engage his creative mind in his first love Radio. Constantly experimenting with his tape recorder to record short plays based on such important issues as AIDS awareness using local writer and voices, the zeal to do something out of the ordinary seems Raghav's mission in life. He gave to DEF, one tape containing a short play wherein message was loud and clear that how tattoos, ever popular with women in villages whose husbands are far off in cities making both ends meet, can cause AIDS with a multiple used needle. We don't hear such types of messages played across in the cities, but the concept and the relevance of it for the village populace was something noteworthy.

  Also, villagers surely have heard about the global village called internet but it remains out of reach for them. Raghav's CIRC plans to have some facility whereby they bring the internet to Mansoorpur. Of course, with the Kiosks being set up everywhere in the country thick and fast, the word surf will come into everyday village parlance not only when referring to a popular detergent brand only. We could sense the excitement among the village folk whenever the word internet was mentioned. Perhaps one day, Raghav's CIRC would be the place where all ICT activities of the village will take place as is being witnessed in so many small villages across India.

  The hut would become a virtual hub. Or may be Mansoorpur could be one of Bihar's first English Relay Programme (ERP) centres where children would be taught Basic English language. When DEF spoke with a soon to retire school headmaster, he was more than keen to take up the responsibility to run an ERP centre.

  Perhaps, he envisioned himself working for a noble cause post retirement having been active all throughout his life. Like computers & internet, English being the lingua franca that it still is, holds the key to a better tomorrow for a small village like Mansoorpur.

  Moreover, to learn computers and for internet too, English is a must. So, the possibilities are immense to empower and enlighten the downtrodden of a far flung corner of India. Perhaps herein lays the challenge for Raghav and his welfare organisation to try and mould the village mindset. Make them look beyond their landscape from the very beginning to a world where in they are compatible with the rest of the world as far as access to knowledge is concerned. The world outside their view is changing so fast that they better keep pace with it or lest they will be left far far behind.

  Or a community radio could be started under the aegis of CIRC. DEF is also keen to be of any help to them in this regard. The government guidelines in this regard have to be followed. A case has to be put up citing Raghav's prior experience in the field of radio transmission. As soon as the forms for opening the community radio station would be available, the plan is to immediately apply for one and get the Raghav Radio back in the ears of Mansoorpur.

  Village trepreneurship
  Raghav certainly is a fine example of a village entrepreneur. His business sense could be gauged from the fact that when armed with one computer it was him who first struck upon the idea to put the machine to a commercial use. That his centre is running in debt is another matter. He had left no stone unturned in his capacity to make the centre commercially viable could be concluded from the fact that when he got Rs. 10,000/- from setting up a Radio system in a Delhi conference, he promptly bought an used generator for Rs. 8000/- to ensure regular electric supply for his learning centre. So, he is not at all lacking in ideas. Jugarus as most Biharis are, they have a knack of finding ways around things howsoever bleak the environment may be.

  The latest news is that at the DEF supported CIRC at Mansoorpur, run by Raghva, he has added sewing classes as another activity for the girls and women of the village. DEF has provided the seed money for buying at least two sewing machines so that the start off could be strong and should result in good revenues for Raghav to sustain the CIRC.

  In the next few months, Raghav has planned to equip the CIRC with digital camera, scanner, printer, and Internet. DEF has asked Raghav to make the existing infrastructure sustainable first before the next level of supports could be provided - this is in the interest of Raghav and CIRC's interest only.

  Pritam Sinha is a research associate with Digital Empowerment Foundation. He can be reached at defindia at gmail.com 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 16911 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0012.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 13412 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0013.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 16070 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0014.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 17820 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0015.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 17768 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0016.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 18425 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0017.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 20845 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0018.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 21117 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0019.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14631 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0020.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14045 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0021.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 16007 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0022.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 16928 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20070212/9a79c938/attachment-0023.jpeg