PRODUCT Description
If a villager wants to buy a railway ticket or any other product or services using the internet, payment has to be made in cash to the tele-centre owner, who comes from the same locality, uses his credit card to complete the transaction. A tie-up has been made with the State Bank of India to provide the tele-centre operator a credit card with a credit limit of Rs. 50,000 and a loan of Rs. 75,000 to run the centre. As a result, villagers from all socio-economic status have the facility to buy goods and services, which are not available in the village, from their doorstep. It saves their time and travel expenses.

The innovative business solution is available across 200 villages in Visakhapattnam district benefiting 0.2 million people. The government plans to replicate the model in the next two years to 2000 villages, which would benefit close to two million people. ICT serves as a glue to bring community together and help them to leap frog further in trade and commerce.

Citation
This innovative solution not only saves time and travel hassles, but effectively allows a single credit card to act as a gateway to reap the benefits of e-commerce for the entire village. In a single stroke, RAJiv internet village-e-commerce overcomes the twin barriers that villagers face in using internet-technical know-how of using internet and payment facility without everyone owning a credit card. The Government of Andhra Pradesh deserves special kudos for such an initiative which reduces transaction cost for the poor and helps the community to make use of Internet for their benefit.

This model has immense potential for replication in other rural areas of India. The tele-centres, which are managed by local people, also hasten the path to computer literacy and cement community bonding further.

Producer Praveen Prakash Kanna Babu
Organisation Government of Andhra Pradesh
Location Andhara Pradesh
Telephone 9849041898, 040-23235642
Email collector_rr@ap.gov.in
Technology/Medium Internet/Web +Kiosk
Language English and Telugu