[Live Blog] Digital Rajasthan Yatra II: Tracking Rajasthan’s Tech Revolution Plan For The Next 10 Years In 10 days

Technology is fascinating in more ways than the mind can comprehend or the eye can perceive. Behind the flashy, new-age appeal of and social media buzz around consumer technology is real change being led by digital technology that’s uplifting the lives of people on the ground.

Rajasthan, a state with a population close to 69 Mn (6.89 cr), is one of the leading agents of this digital change in India. Rajasthan was once synonymous with heritage and royalty, conjuring up images of majestic forts amid deserts and pink and blue cities dotted with temples and havelis.

Today, the state is taking incredible strides towards digital transformation across sectors and cross-sections of society. While, on one hand, it has emerged as a leading hub for startups in the country with its iStart programme, on the other, it is driving e-governance at various levels, bringing digital where it really matters — to empower its women through Bhamashah Yojana and e-Sakhi, to help employ local youth through e-Mitra, etc.

Smartphones and Internet have become a part of the daily lives of the people residing in the state, as was evident from the high number of requests for mobile number portability (MNP) in Rajasthan. The number stood at 26.24 Mn — the highest in the Northern and Western zones of India — and that too for the second year in a row, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

And at the base of these initiatives is the state government’s Rajnet — a network that is set to cover all 9,894 gram panchayats and 183 municipal areas along with all district and block headquarters in the state. The number of Internet users in Rajasthan was the highest among rural areas in India at 7.3 Mn as at January 31, 2016 (6.47% share in all India) and second only to West Bengal, according to the government data.

In our last (and first) Digital Rajasthan Yatra, we discovered evidence of the real digital change happening on the ground in the state. We met 58-year-old Gayatri Soni of Tonk, an ANM (auxiliary nurse and midwife) worker in the Chironj village, whose primary job is to spread awareness on health-related government services and policies to women in her village. We also met health workers who use phones to click pictures of their registers and paperwork and send them to the PHC office, making functioning smoother and more transparent.

The scope of the digital advancement Rajasthan is making and the scope for us in terms of opportunities and challenges to cover this change has brought us back to Rajasthan to conduct Phase Two of the Digital Rajasthan Yatra. This time, we will be covering even more ground (3,300 Km), both literally and figuratively, and will be travelling through 10 districts beginning with Nagaur. We will also cover Jodhpur, Pali Udaipur, Rajsamand, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa.

This time around, we will assess the adoption of technology and all things digital by the locals, with a major focus on farmers, women, and youth on one hand and sectors such as agriculture, SMEs, education, and healthcare on the other.

Watch this space to keep track on our travels through the majestic state of Rajasthan, where we explore firsthand the changes technology is bringing on the ground.

Taking Elearning Lessons In Dausa

On Day 10 Digital Rajasthan Yatra II, we interacted with Anjali (19), Asha, (19), and Akansha, (17) at Pahal Computers in Duasa and had indepth conversations about e-learning and digital literacy in Digisthan.

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How Krishi Vigyan Kendra Is Empowering Farmers With Tech And Digital Tools

After three hours on the road, we stepped into Bharatpur city. The first destination for us was the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, which are district-level institutions helping farmers with the latest agricultural technologies. It was here that we met Dr Amar Singh, a senior scientist who heads the Krishi Vigyan Kendra and is the dean of Krishi Maha Vidyalaya.

Singh, who joined Krishi Vigyan in 2005, told us how, over the years, technology has become critical for agriculture. Several digital initiatives are being undertaken at the centre to educate farmers in the use of technology enabled solutions.

Out of the 1,600 villages in and around Bharatpur, about 1,400 to 1,500 are in touch with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra. The centre aspires to familiarise at least 10-15 farmers from each block with the Digital India mission.

With a view to help farmers make the most of a farming season, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra sends voice and text messages regularly to farmers on best practices to grow crops, use of pesticides, climate information, etc.

Singh feels that digitalisation is a boon for even uneducated farmers who can’t read because they can watch videos to understand applications of technology in agriculture. To motivate farmers who come in for training at the centre to adopt new technology, the centre plays the success stories of other farmers.

Bharatpur is a flood-prone area and Krishi Vigyan Kendra is currently working on digital tools to help farmers deal with floods better with an aim to double their income by 2022. The centre even has an automated weather mechanisms in place to help disseminate information about rain to the farmers in different areas.

Previously, the centre used to see interest from farmers and their wives wanting to learn about technology, but these many unemployed youth also enrol in short-term training courses, ranging from 10 to 90 days. Apart from this, the centre conducts sewing classes for women, trains both women and youth in horticulture, facilitating not only learning but also improving their chances of making a livelihood.

We asked Singh why would the youth, who are aware of the importance of technology in today’s world, choose traditional agriculture, he said, “It’s important that we change our ways of traditional agriculture and adopt digitalisation to reduce the time between harvesting and the produce reaching the consumer. This would encourage the youth to join agriculture.’’

Singh said that the eNAM or the National Agriculture Market initiative — an online trading platform for agricultural commodities in India — has helped farmers immensely by eliminating middlemen. For decades, middlemen have been eating away the bulk of the farming profit, leaving nothing for farmers. Thanks to eNAM, farmers are getting fair prices. They have also become aware of the prevailing prices of different types of produce in various mandis because of eNAM. This information enables them to sell their produce at the best price.

He, however, believes that the government still needs to spread awareness about such initiatives and cast its net wider to ensure that more farmers come under the ambit of such initiatives, especially from lower-level mandis.

Overall, Singh is optimistic about the digital drive across India as it has enabled accountability of income, access to cross-border technology, etc. Although farmers are still wary about selling online to private companies as they are afraid of being cheated, he added that a government facilitator would make them more confident about selling produce online.

The Rajasthan government is striving to empower each block with small-scale technologies, both software and hardware, so that farmers are up to date new new farming techniques.

The dismal scenario of farmers in India did not seems so dismal after our chat with Amar Singh. And it was time to gear up again and move on to our next digital discussion in digital Rajasthan.

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Team Inc42 Now Heading Towards Bharatpur

We have packed our bags and are on the road again. The destination today is Bharatpur. We have high hopes of getting to meet some more interesting people and bringing you some more interesting stories of how digitisation is changing the lives of the people in the city.

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How Digitisation Brought Alwar’s Famous Kalakand Online

If you are in Alwar, you simply have to taste the famous Alwar kalakand (an Indian milk cake made of solidified, sweetened milk and paneer). So, after finishing our meeting with auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), we headed towards Baba Thakur Das & Sons, one of the most famous and oldest sweet shops in the city.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the owners of the shop, brothers Abhishek Taneja (36) and Ashish Taneja (33), are quite tech savvy. They even sell their mithai on an online platform and have tie-ups with the likes of Amazon, Flavours Of My City and Place Of Origin.

“We deliver sweets across India within three days. We have friends who encouraged us and informed us about the benefits of going online,” said Abhishek.

Abhishek shared with us the story of how their Grandfather, the late Baba Thakur Das, started his kalakand venture.

Thakur Das came to India in 1947 from Pakistan and opened a shop (the first one) in the old city. When he started selling kalakand, there was a rumour that the sweetmeat was is red in colour because he used non-vegetarian ingredients. So, he conducted a public demonstration of how the kalakand at his shop is made, after which the sweetmeat gained immense popularity among the residents of the city.

Today, the Tanejas have three outlets in and around Alwar (one in the old city, two in the main city, and one on the highway).

In their current business model, they don’t have to pay any fees to be a part of the online marketplaces they have tied up with. They receive emails from online platforms about the orders, which are processed by the shop and the orders are sent via couriers.

Many online marketplaces have their own logistics/courier companies while some others use FedEx because of the quality of service and on-time delivery. The online platforms provide their own packaging for shipment.

“The courier guy collects the shipment every day at 7:30 PM. They have a tie-up with FedEx, which delivers very fast, an important requirement since sweets are perishable. The GST has had a positive impact on our business. Tax on khoya (thickened milk), one of the major ingredients of kalakand, has reduced from 5.5% to 5%,” said Abhishek.

And the profit from the extra sales is certainly sweet. Daily online sales for the sweet shop is around 60–80 kg.

The over-the-counter price of the milk cake is INR 320 per kg and it is sold at INR 530 per kg on these online platforms. The Tanejas charge the counter rate for the online orders and the platform adds its fee and delivery charges to the bill amount.

“We register the maximum sales on Flavours of My City and Place of Origin. We don’t sell all that much on Amazon because it is a big platform offering various products. The other two are dedicated food platforms and hence sales is higher on them,” added Ashish.

The brothers are happy that digitisation has enabled them to boost the business and establish a pan-India presence. They claim that the online business has increased their total sales by 30% on an year-on-year basis.

Initially, they found the digital paperwork — e-returns, e-filing of business documents and monthly/quarterly sales and purchase — a hassle, but, with time, they have adopted an efficient process and are comfortable with it now. They feel going online is the need of the hour most any business these days.

Further, to their advantage, the demonetisation drive accelerated digital payment adoption in the country. Around 20% of their customers prefer e-payments over cash-on-delivery; they mostly order from the second and third outlets, which are not in the old city.

Typically, tourists and visitors prefer to make payments through card. They use online banking to check account statements, make bookings, etc, but have not taken to e-transactions in the business that well.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Alwar. With a taste of the kalaland still in our mouths and excited about the impact digitisation is having on the lives of people in Rajasthan, we headed towards our hotel for some rest before we started on our next day’s journey to Bharatpur.

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Healthcare In Alwar: A Focal Point

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How Students At BITS Pilani Are Digitally Empowering People At The Grassroots

During our visit to Jhunjhunu, Inc42 met Divyansh Saini, who has studied bio-sciences at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS). At present, Divyansh is working for SocialCops, a data intelligence company based in New Delhi.

He talked to us about the activities of the Centre For Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) at BITS, which he was a part of. The CEL was founded in 2004 with the mandate of fostering entrepreneurship in each student.

The centre invites startup founders to give talks to enable the students to understand what goes into building a startup and imbibe learnings from successful startups. Divyansh said, “In Startup Sphere sessions, we have startup founders talks about their journeys.’’

Apart from this, CEL provides students links to inspirational talks on a monthly or weekly basis. After the second year, students undergo compulsory internships and it’s a trend in the college to start working early. The centre helps the students secure internships at startups. In the past, Zomato and Innerchef have hired interns from the institute.

Right after demonetisation, the students started an initiative called Digital Pilani. This was triggered by the realisation that the students didn’t have cash and, hence, could not pay the vendors on campus. They partnered with a digital payments company and sent out two representatives to spread awareness and help vendors understand how they could shift to online payments.

The students, Divyansh told us, went to a village called Rila, where most of the workers who worked on the campus lived. These people were facing major problems because of the cash crunch and the students explained to them how digital payments work.

They were a bit wary and the students had a tough time explaining to them that it wasn’t a scam. They also explained to them how digital payments would help them in future.

Divyansh shared with us how, in his four years at Pilani, he’s seen big and small vendors take steps towards digital payments. Owing to Jio, many people can now afford mobile Internet services, which enables them to get weather updates and do other activities online.

He said that the advantage of being in Pilani, Rajasthan, was that the students there connected with the problems people face at the grassroots and feel encouraged to come up with solutions for them, similar to the idea of Redbus, which was born out of founder’s personal experience of not finding a bus service when he needed one.

All big things start with an idea — isn’t it?

With that we ended our trip to Jhunjhunu and head off towards our next stop.

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PIED Is Giving Wings To Startups With A Focus On Technology And Social Impact

On Day 7, while visiting Jhunjhunu district, Team Inc42 met Kumaran Nathan, Asst. Manager (Technology Business Incubator – BITS Pilani)’who works at the Pilani Institute of Entrepreneurship and Development (PIED), started in 2004. Nathan told us how Pilani is focussing on incubating startups. PIED is keen on startups that have a technology focus and are looking to have a social impact. PIED has incubated 38 startups this far.

The institute invites proposals from startups looking for seed funding through an advertisement on the website of the institute and through root mails sent to all students.

Criteria For Pre-screening of Startup Proposals:

• Innovation in the idea
• Timeline for the conversion of the product/services
• Market potential of the product to be developed
• Potential for scaling up
• Market research done by the team
• Financial projections given by the team
• Break-even period
• Team strength (experience, skill set)
• IPR registration/application
• Potential of the team to induct funds

When a startup proposal is received, the selection committee assesses the proposal and accordingly makes recommendations, after which the seed funds are sanctioned and approved by the chairman.

Kumaran mentioned that the review process followed by PIED Society for selecting startup proposals for the seed funding is as follows:

• A two-round review process is followed for the proposals received for seed grant. In the first round, all proposals received for availing of the seed grant scheme are sent to the committee members for a review. Proposals are assessed on the basis of the innovation involved, market need, scalability, team strength, etc.
• In the second round, the shortlisted proposals are invited to present their proposal in front of an executive committee either physically or via a video conference. During the presentation, they may showcase their prototype. The teams are thoroughly questioned on innovation, market need, target customers, customers feedback, marketing strategy, competitive strategy, financials, etc.

After thorough discussions, committee members take a decision on which proposals should be supported and the quantum of funding to be approved.

Redbus is one of the most noteworthy companies to have been incubated at PIED. The incubation process is generally for 12 months with a six-month extension, if required.

After gaining these insights from Kumaran on PIED and what it is doing to nurture the seed of startups in the country, it was time for us to move on to our next destination in Digital Rajasthan Yatra 2!

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Digitisation & Empowerment In The Deepest Corners Of Rajasthan

Place: Jhunjhunu & Sikar

Part 1 – 12:00 pm

Day 7 started with team Inc42 visiting Jhunjhunu district. It was here that we met Kumaran Nathan, who works as an assistant manager at the Pilani institute of entrepreneurship and development (PIED). Pilani is leveraging all aspects of digitisation to leapfrog its journey. Kumaran Nathan told us that PIED has an incubation programme under which it looks for ideas with a technology focus and those with an social impact. Since 2004, PIED has incubated 38 startups; at present, eight startups are being incubated under the programme.

Redbus is one of the most noteworthy companies to have been incubated here. The incubation process is 12 months, with a six month extension if required.

Part 2 – 4:00 PM

In the second half of Day 7, Team Inc42 went back to Sikar and we met auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) Anju Kachwal (40) and Pinky 23 and Asha workers (Accredited Social Health Activists) Sumitra Mathur (50), Ranjita (35), and Babita Sharma (43).

All of them work with low-income families, where the monthly income of the families was between INR 3,000 – INR 5,000, providing ante- and post-natal healthcare to women. They help women get Aadhar and Bhamashah cards and bank accounts and then they link alll of these online to help them avail of healthcare benefits and information.

Insights on ante- and post-natal healthcare for women in Alwar:

1. Overall, the women of Alwar were very satisfied with the healthcare benefits being provided to them
   2. Institutional deliveries for babies have increased and there are lesser deliveries now overall
   3. The women are open to the idea of delivery through surgery, because the expenses are covered.
   4. There has been a decrease in infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate
   5. Online database management & monitoring, especially timely vaccinations, has helped the ANMs and ASHA workers deliver almost 95-98% success in their work
   6. Healthcare penetration has significantly increased in low-income muslim pockets

However, ANM and ASHA workers feel that their incentives and salaries are very low. They make a mere INR 1,500-2,000 per month and feel that this is way too little for the work they do.

 

Further updates are awaited on Day 7 as Team Inc42 traverses through the villages and towns of Rajasthan.

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Sikar: Interactive Learning, Smart Classes & A Desire To Make A Difference!

Place: Sikar

Participants: Teachers: Archana Sharma & Swant Ram Yogi; Students: Anisha Sharma (Class XI), Manu Sharma (Class VIII), and Jyothi Sharma (Class XI)

After learning about the various initiatives taken by principal Vinod Sharma and others at Govt. Senior Secondary School Holiyakabas (Sikar), we interacted with a few teachers and students to understand their perspectives.

Archana Sharma is a Level II Hindi teacher who was transferred to this school from Jodhpur. She said, “This school, because of its various facilities and initiatives like reciting of devotional songs using loudspeakers, is very different from a normal government school. I feel a huge sense of fulfilment in working here.”

Teachers too are participating in the change here. Sawant Ram Yogi, for instance, rallied with the villagers to get crowdsourcing for the costs of the school. His children study in classes VIII and XI in the same school.

The students told us why they like studying at the school.

Anisha Sharma, a Class XI student, wants to work for the government when she grows up. She feels that studying in an environment like this, she will get a sense of real grassroots problems and how to solve them. She believes that studying in an expensive private school would not serve this purpose.

Another student, Manu Sharma, who studies in Class VIII, and recently shifted to Sikar from Delhi with his family, told us that although shifting from English to Hindi medium was intimidating at first, his teachers were encouraging and patient. The biggest incentive for him to study in this school is the smart classes.

Jyothi Sharma has been studying at Govt. Senior Secondary School Holiyakabas (Sikar) since Class I. She highlighted the security aspect at her school, which has installed CCTV cameras to monitor the school premises. Girl students also get bicycles from the government from Class VIII onwards, which helps them commute to the school.

Studying in this small government school is not a shame but rather a privilege and a matter of pride.

One of the most interesting and common behavioural changes in the students is that after the introduction of smart classes, they can learn about topics and concepts that they couldn’t understand well from books, especially on subjects such as the human body, geography & English. The students told us that after attending the smart classes, they go back home and explain the concepts to their family members and friends.

The students said they look forward to the smart classes the most so much that they sometimes get into friendly quarrels with their teachers if other classes get to attend the smart classes before they do. The children were also happy that the school provides them milk three days a week, apart from the educational benefits.

Govt. Senior Secondary School Holiyakabas (Sikar) gave us a fresh perspective on government schools. Smart classes and the community outlook of students, teachers, and villagers are the primary reasons for the progress this school has seen. The initiatives taken by the school attract other students to join it.

With this, the Inc42 team sped off to its next destination, smiles on our faces thanks to the wonderful interaction!

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How A Forward-Thinking Principal Is Redefining Education For Students In Sikar

Place: Sikar

Participant name: Vinod Sharma

On Day 6 of Digital Rajasthan Yatra II, Team Inc42 met Vinod Sharma, the principal of Rajkiya Uchch Madhyamik Vidyalaya, in Sikar. Sharma has been the principal of the school since May 8, 2013. The total strength of the school is around 450 students, studying in Classes I to XII.

Digital Classrooms For Learning

A visit to a private school and a look at the amenities available there inspired Vinod Sharma to replicate the standards and practices at the government school where he was working.

“Curiosity is the seed for learning. The role of the teacher is not just to teach in classes, but generate curiosity in the minds of the children,” said Sharma.

He wanted to introduce smart classes and spoke to the village residents to crowdsource resources for the project. Initially, the villagers were wary of Sharma’s plans for the school which involved embracing new-age digital technologies to enhance learning & education. But, eventually, he managed to convince them and everything started falling in place.

One of the patrons of the school donated about INR 2.5 Lakh for the digital classroom infrastructure comprising a projector, a touchscreen, touchscreen pens, sound system, etc.

The e-content for the courses, worth about INR 35,000, was provided by a company in Jodhpur which specialises in Rajasthan State board subjects. The e-content is saved in password-protected pen drives and can not be copied and distributed. Every class has separate pen drives containing the study material, segregated according to the subjects.

Salient Features Of The e-Content:

• The cost of the e-content is higher than that of CBSE content, which ranges between INR 10,000 – INR 12,000, because it has to be specially designed as per the state board’s syllabus
• Many teachers were not well versed with computers and e-learning techniques but they showed great enthusiasm for the smart classes
• The school uses a BSNL Internet connection to facilitate smart classes
• Currently, the smart class infrastructure is installed in only one classroom where teachers continuously teach classes I to XII
• Sometimes, they combine classes to enable enhanced learning and interaction between students of different age groups. They introduce basic concepts of science, grammar, geography and history through these combined classes. The principal also attends these classes sometimes to keep a check on their quality
• The visual learning method has had a good impact on the students. They’re now able to understand concepts better
• The children’s curiosity has also seen a rise. Seeing visuals of abstract math and science concepts piques their curiosity and they ask a lot more questions, resulting in better learning and improved exam results
• Currently, all the school teachers are trained to run smart classes on their own (their subjects)

A Holistic Approach to Learning

• The Rajasthan Knowledge Corporation Limited and the Rajasthan State Certificate Course in Information Technology (RSCIT) runs courses for government teachers with the purpose of acquainting them with computers and digital learning
• Under the ‘Click’ scheme of the Rajasthan government, many public schools have tied up with agencies to provide computer education to the students. Parents are expected to pay a nominal monthly fee of around INR 80 to INR 120 per month per child, around INR 1,000 to INR 1,500 per year, for all the subjects
• Initially, the villagers asked Sharma why did he want to crowdsource to implement smart classes when eventually the Click scheme would eventually come to their school
• The principal explained to them there were two reasons. One, in this digital age, every child should embraces technology as early as he/she can. Second, through the ‘Click’ scheme, parents would have to pay for the computer classes, which wouldn’t be required under e-learning. So, he equipped the school with e-learning facilities

Challenges And Achievements Along The Way

Govt. Senior Secondary School Holiyakabas (Sikar) had a lot of infrastructural problems when Vinod Sharma joined as the principal — there weren’t even fans in the classrooms. Sharma sought the help of the villagers to improve the infrastructure and received resounding supported in his vision to provide good education to the children.

The school collected a donation of INR 38 Lakh, of which INR 20 Lakh was given by the villagers in kind and INR 18 Lakh came from different government funds. It is the first government school in the district where the staff wear uniforms. Inspired by this school, the collector of Nagaur declared a dress code for government school teachers across the district.

Govt. Senior Secondary School Holiyakabas (Sikar) is adopting new and innovative ways of interaction, development, and learning for its students. In the morning assembly, school teachers play musical instruments, children read out news headlines, and discuss general knowledge topics. Every classroom in the school is named after a great personality depicting their achievements. Every Saturday, the students play a modified version of musical tables where they revise multiplication tables to the beats of musical instruments.

Apart from learning, the school lays a lot of stress on hygiene. Sanitary napkin dispensers are installed at the school. Clean drinking water and washrooms are also available. The villagers have such faith in the school’s teaching methods that even those who can afford private schools send their children to this school.

Crowdfunding: How community effort can make a school great

People and institutions generously donated to the school — school uniforms, playground slides, greenboards, furniture — so as to create a good learning environment for the children and equip it with amenities like those at private schools. Regular MTM (mother-teachers meet) and PTM (parents-teachers meet) are conducted at the school.

MTM is a very interesting concept. More than 250 mothers are invited along with their children to visit the school and see for themselves the facilities and education being provided to their children.

Every year, the school hosts grand ceremonies on August 15 and January 26, which are attended by almost 1,000 students and adults who donate to the school. These donations and funds received from the Mukhyamantri Jan Sahbhagita Yojana (MJSY) are used in the development and functioning of the school. Roughly, 40% of the amount comes from donors and 60% from the government.

The school is now planning to utilise this money to build more smart classes and also to buy learning aids that will enable the students to get more practical learning and experiences. The school staff also contributes to the development of the school by giving donations on the Gyaan Sankalp portal of the state government.

Just like any other corporate organisation, the school shares a detailed report of expenditure with the donors and villagers in the meetings. This helps in building trust among donors and urges them to donate more.

The school takes cognisance of good performers and takes necessary measures to encourage them and thus other students. One of its meritorious students attained 89% in her Class XII boards and is currently studying at Maharani College, Jaipur. She even got a scooty from the government as a token of appreciation. The school wants to make a name as a producer of top talent with the use of technology and digital classes.

The villagers also donated to make a temple of Goddess Saraswati on the school premises.

Future Opportunities & Challenges

Principal Vinod Sharma and the school management are selective about accepting donations in kind. They turn down donations for fans, water coolers or black boards as the school already has these. At present, it needs funds to build more smart classes, install computers, tablets, and audio-visual aids for children. The school is trying to build an additional digital classroom and a new computer lab is already under construction.

At present, there is no science faculty for classes XI and XII. Students have to travel all the way to Sri Madhopur if they want to specialise in science. Some others are compelled to go to private schools where the fees are high. The school has requested the state government to appoint science teachers in the school, but the application is still pending.

The students understand the importance of technology and are highly enthused about being able to learn it so early in life. Parents, meanwhile, have a lot of positive feedback for the school.

Govt. Senior Secondary School Holiyakabas (Sikar) was established in the pre-Independence period, said Sharma, adding that his father too studied in this school. It is a great honour for him to be the principal of the school and take it and its students towards a new era of digitalisation.

 

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Improving Mother And Child Care In Rajasthan Villages Through Digitisation

Place: Delwara, Rajsamand district

Participant: Dr Vikas Purushottam, Community Health Centre, Medical officer

We’ve been bringing to you ground reports of the digitalisation wave that’s touching every aspect of people’s lives in Rajasthan, in both rural and urban areas. The government is working to make sure that its technology enabled schemes reach the remotest corners of the state, helping citizens to derive the maximum benefits from them.

One such initiative is anganwadi — the primary centre for education as well as healthcare for the people of Rajasthan. Every village has an Asha worker (known as ASHA Sahyogini in Rajasthan), an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM), and anganwadi workers, who act as three primary agents of healthcare facilities provided by the government.

The Day 5 of Digital Rajasthan Yatra II, was majorly a travelling day for us. During our visit to Delwara near Udaipur, we met Dr Vikas Purushottam, a medical officer at a CHC, to understand how these three agents work on the ground.

“You can consider an Asha worker as one of the daughters-in-law of the village. She is close to the people, helps women step into the outside world, and teaches them the basics of education and healthcare. However, her major work spans around antenatal care, pregnancy care, and childbirth, among others,” said Purushottam.

With a view to centralise and smoothen healthcare delivery and monitoring of pregnant females, young mothers and their children, the government has introduced an online system called the Pregnancy and Child Tracking System (PCTS).

Apart from primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs), there are sub-centres in villages with three-four anganwadis reporting to each sub-centre. The Asha workers file reports on antenatal and post-natal cases at these sub-centres. ANMs, who work directly at the centres, record the cases and take them forward to primary health centre (PHC)/community health centre (CHC).

The ANMs update the details of pregnant females every month on the PCTS. This is the first entry and contains pregnant females information and details relating to the Bhamashah Card, Aadhaar, bank account details, etc.

Further, high-risk pregnancy females (HRPs) are categorised separately in the PCTS software. A unique ID is generated by the PCTS, which acts as an online record of all the health-related details, etc of the female in question. This ID is valid across Rajasthan and can be used for healthcare services anywhere in the state.

Then there is the Home Based Neonatal Care (HBNC) scheme, under which an Asha worker monitors and takes care of the new mother and child for 42 days after the delivery. Their health status is recorded at pre-fixed times, ranging from four-six times, during the 42-day period.

Purushottam said that earlier it was really difficult for the PHCs and these healthcare agents to monitor pregnant females and child immunisation centrally. The lead time was very high and a lot of time was wasted in communicating things over the phone. Now, the details are updated on a centralised system and everyone is on the same page. This has proved to be one of the biggest benefits of the online record-keeping system for all healthcare officials of the ecosystem.

“However, it is very important for the beneficiaries to keep their documents updated so as to get access of the benefits. The doctors and officials keep telling people to keep their records updated,” he added.

Purushottam shared with us the different schemes launched by the Centre and the Rajasthan government to benefit the village women. Here are a few of them:

• Under the Centre’s Janani Suraksha Yojana, INR 1,400 and INR 1,000 are given to women in rural and urban areas respectively.
• The Rajasthan government’s Rajshree Yojana is an incentive scheme that provides INR 50K to women on the birth of a girl child, in installments. The first installment of INR 2,500 given at the time of birth, then INR 2,500 on completion of one year of immunisation, and so on.
• The Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana, launched in December 2015, provides health insurance to National Food Security Scheme beneficiaries. Only regular beneficiaries of the scheme with active Bhamashah Cards can avail of this benefit.
• The insurance covers about 1,100 ailment packages, divided into secondary and tertiary level care. CHC, sub-divisional hospitals, district hospitals, medical colleges, and government-affiliated private hospitals cover the treatment of these ailments as per the packages available at their centres.
• The maximum annual limit of the scheme is INR 30,000. In case of serious ailments, the healthcare centre requests the government for further assistance and the amount can be raised upto INR 3,00,000, depending upon the case. The request is usually approved in within 48 hours of the request being made.
• Under Kilkari Yojana, which is operational in very few places at present, immunisation and vaccination are provided for free. Women receive voice call reminders on their mobile phones for the due date.

We were also surprised to learn about the number of softwares being utilised at an anganwadi (rural mother and childcare centres) to ensure its hassle-free functioning and for maintaining all the data properly. Let us give you a glimpse of the same:

• There is a special software for Asha workers called Asha Soft, where Asha workers update the details of 42 post-delivery care days under the unique ID generated by the PCTS. The details are automatically updated on the PCTS software.
• Asha workers get their incentives on the basis of the work done by them, which is updated on Asha Soft. Their work is verified by the ANM immediately above them. The incentives are directly transferred into their bank account.
• All the monetary benefits under various government schemes are monitored by the Ojas, an accounting software. The benefits are transferred directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
• OPD (outdoor patients department) receipts are generated via the CPHIS Raj or Arogya Online software. Free receipts are generated on provision of a government-approved ID.
• Records of free medicines are updated on the e-Aushadhi software. This software records the data of each beneficiary with reference to their unique ID. Also, it can be used by the healthcare centre to raise demands for more medicines.
• e-Saadhan is another software through which the healthcare centres communicate the requirement of various contraceptives to the government.
• Nikshay is a centralised software for tuberculosis patient records. This software maintains online records with unique IDs valid across the state and the person is entitled to receive free treatment kit, etc, from PHCs/CHCs anywhere in Rajasthan.

Despite all efforts, there are certain glitches that needs to be sorted, say the doctors. As they suggested, the local vernacular should be used for these voice calls and the voice message should be designed in a way that it catches the attention of the listener.

Digitisation has made it easy for healthcare workers to schedule and plan their work because now they can access all the records online, thus making it possible to foresee future needs. However, the road ahead is still long.

Surprised by the digitisation observed in the streets of Udaipur, the Inc42 team’s next stop is capital city Jaipur.

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Apkamart: This Website Is Improving The Lives Of Women And Artisans In Rajasthan

Place: Udaipur

Participants: Anshul & Sakshi Bansal

On our trip to Udaipur, the Inc42 team met Anshul Bansal and Sakshi Bansal, a married couple, both 34 years old, who founded apkamart.com, a website for selling handicraft products, in 2014.

The idea was sparked from the realisation that handicrafts produced by small players/artisans are not priced properly because of the involvement of middlemen. “There are many takers for handcrafted home decor items, but they’re too expensive as middleman mark up prices a lot. As a result, the end users end up paying a lot but artisans don’t get the benefit. The objective was to bring buyers and sellers together via a digital platform,” said Anshul.

According to the Bansals, the home decor market in India is booming, so they wanted to use a digital platform to capitalise on this growing trend. Rajasthani Handicrafts are very popular, but customers are often wary of being overcharged. This is the gap Apkamart is looking to address.

“Apkamart started with a few wholesalers, but now we are sourcing products directly from artisans and also giving them customised requests. Almost 80% of our products come directly from artisans. As far as custom orders are concerned, we take them on for wedding requests,” said Anshul.

The Bansals want to ensure that the artisans get regular work and fair compensation thanks to Apkamart. They mostly source from small artisans who otherwise work for daily wages; with Apakamart, they get regular work. They also want to empower local women by providing employment to them and change the mindset that women shouldn’t work prevalent in the area.

Anshul said he had a dream of becoming an entrepreneur since he was in college; he met Sakshi in college as well. It was 2012-13, while Sakshi was on a maternity break and was mulling getting back to a full-time job, that they came up with the idea of Apkamart and they decided to act on it.

Anshul and Sakshi were working in ICICI Bank’s insurance department but in different divisions when they decided to launch Apkamart. The startup has been bootstrapped from the beginning, and was started with just over INR 1 Lakh. For the first six months, they spent a lot of time procuring products and setting up the website.

After they procured the first batch of products, the new entrepreneurs faced a challenge of optimising their website. As the website started to get more traction, the Bansals learnt along the way. Realising the potential of their business, Sakshi and Anshul were soon wanted to raise funds for expansion, but it wasn’t easy to get financing as they did not meet some of the traditional requirements of banks like three years of founding, IT returns of the business, etc.

The couple finally decided to sell their property in Ahmedabad, where they were based, move to Rajasthan, and go at it with full force. “Honestly when you start off, you always think that you need to have some security, but what we have learnt is that you can’t do a business part time. This is the one piece of advice we would give to all budding entrepreneurs,” said Anshul. Sakshi added, “You need to be focussed if you want your business to grow, that is the only way.”

While they were in Ahmedabad, the duo thought basing their business out of Ahmedabad would give them the edge of being in a big city. But, on introspection, they came to the conclusion that if they moved to Rajasthan, the cost of logistics, including real estate and sourcing of goods, would be low.

They made the first hire for Apkamart in February 2016 — an executive to handle the operations and the accounts. Currently, the total team size is 13 people, of which six are women. The company has a coordinator who manages the supply chain and ensures that the quality of products across batches sourced from these artisans is the same.

Ecommerce platform Snapdeal reached out to the Bansals in 2014 for a business tie-up, the same year Apkamart started. Later even Flipkart approached them, even before they started operations in Udaipur.

The startup used to receive only 10-15 orders a month until 2015 end. Now, the number has gone up to 1,500-2,000 orders a month, for around 2700 products.

“When we started up, people were not convinced about paying online and transacting digitally, which was our biggest change, but now people are getting comfortable with it. English is not a barrier anymore in the usage of smartphones and thus our market is getting bigger,” says Anshul. Making artisans truly understand the business model is another challenge, and an ongoing one.

Anshul said, “We’re trying to change the mindset that you need to be in a big city to make it big. Most of our staff are women, and this is intentional. We’re also trying to change the mindset that women should not work, which still persists here. In the last few years, we’ve seen that women, given the opportunity, can do much better than men.”

The women employees of Apkamart, mostly in the 20-23 age group, take care of aspects such as accounts, website, social media, and packaging. The Bansals added that Apkamart treats its employees with dignity, and ensures that they grow along with the company. They said their growth was evident from change in the way they dress to the face that now they can sign their names in English.

Today, Apkamart boasts a presence on all big ecommerce sites in India, including Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal, and is looking at a future full of opportunities.

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Meet Daksh, A 16-Year-Old App Developer Looking To Solve India’s ‘Small’ Problems

The highlight of the Udaipur trip for Inc42 was meeting Daksh Agrawal, a Class X student who is the proud owner and developer of seven apps on Google Play Store that are used by more than 10,000 people.

The idea of creating mobile apps came to Daksh when he was travelling in a group to Goa and expense sharing proved to be very cumbersome. They checked out various apps on the Play Store and found online ones, but nothing suited their purpose as they found them difficult to use in the Indian context.

The experience got Daksh thinking about developing offline apps specifically for India. Then a Class VI student, Daksh started educating himself on application development, programming, etc, on the Internet. Over the next one-and-a-half years, he learnt programming languages and Android-based app development by following various portals and forums such as Stack Overflow, Youtuber Siraj Rawal, etc. Daksh was so driven by the desire to build apps that he would skip school sometimes to work on his apps.

He failed three or four times to satisfy the standards of Google Play Store before finally making his big launch when he was in Class VIII. His first app, ‘My Share’, launched on Google Play Store, is an offline app that allows users to add members and split bills in a customisable manner.

The young man likes to brainstorm with his father about real-world problems. He tries to take perspectives on such problems from his father and then uses the inputs to work on his apps.  “I try to solve day-to-day problems by identifying such problems and making applications to solve them,” said Daksh.

Another app that resulted from his passion to help people address their everyday basic needs is ‘Society’ — a housing society management app that helps residents access notices from their residential societies, maintenance bills, etc.

Other apps created by Daksh are ‘Party Time’, an online party venue booking platform and ‘EMI Calculator’, which generates complete repayment schedules and enables users to compare different loan rates.

However, despite the success of his apps, Daksh has faced a lot of social censure for not focusing on his studies and getting into app development instead. But, fortunately for him, his parents have supported him through all his failures and successes and allowed him to do what he loves best.

Daksh’s father wanted him to become a tennis player but he never showed any interest in sports. He later realised that it was wrong on his part to force his dreams on Daksh and relooked at his parenting approach. When he discovered that Daksh was fond of technology and wanted to solve the small problems faced by people in India, he encouraged the boy to pursue his passion.

“I believe that the current social and education system should evolve into one where failures are accepted with grace and pride. Only when students are provided with conducive environments to experiment and play with their passions, and fail as well, is when they will truly grow and succeed,’’ said Daksh’s father

Daksh dreams of working with Google one day. He finds it easy to manage his schoolwork along with his passion. He doesn’t want to join coaching classes to prepare for engineering entrances. He has his sights set on MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where the selection criteria is the interest and capability of the student, not the marks obtained.

After the end of his school session, Daksh was left with textbooks that were of no use to him. “These books could be of big help to the junior students and hence I created a book donation application, BookShare,” said Daksh.

Daksh believes that the government must promote IT in India by setting up unconventional and more productive environments to work in. He also feels developers must be provided support from the government and should be encouraged to experiment freely.

He believes that he can solve many problems faced by Indians in their day-to-day lives by learning from global trends and working in an international environment.

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How Amit Agrawal Is Helping Young People With His Mobile Repair Training Centre

Place: Udaipur (Bapu Bazar)

Participant: Amit Agrawal, 41 yrs

After interacting with the students of the Khatu Shyam Infotech Studies Private Ltd (KHITS) in Udaipur, Inc42 met the man behind the centre — Amit Agrawal. Amit, 41, started the course in 2003 with four students and has grown the training centre to its present size of more than 40 students.

Agrawal had an interesting backstory to share about how he got into the mobile repairing training business. Prior to opening his centre, he was in the business of secondhand mobile phones. Such phones that came to him for sale were usually faulty, so he decided to learn mobile repairing on his own through resources such as books, mechanic friends of his, etc.

He translated the technical content of the books into easy-to-understand layman’s language and started working to repair circuits of these secondhand mobile phones. He then started conducting a course in mobile repair training.

Agarwal also updates the course content according to need. Over time, as touchscreens became popular, he realised that the major problems with mobile phones were usually related to the touchscreen or to charging. He decided to address these issues through the course and made the course module more practical in nature.

The course duration is anything from one-and-a-half to three months. Since the investment is low and mobile repairing is seen as a lucrative employment of business option these days, the demand for the course is very high. The course is priced at INR 5,900.

The typical age group seeking to enrol in the course is between 18-24 years and the minimum education requirement is Class VIII. It is mostly male-dominated even though mobile repairing could be a very good avenue for women as well. The gender ratio is very low — in fact no girl has ever enrolled at KHITS for mobile repairing course.

Mobile repair training centres such as KHITS are so popular than even mobile manufacturing giants such as Samsung and Micromax recruit candidates from them.

The major drawback of the free skill training schemes by the government, according to Amit, is that the students don’t value the courses because they don’t have to pay anything for them. Hence, it is important that the government charges a nominal fee for these courses.

Even though the number of enrolments has dipped a bit in the past couple of years, mobile repairing still offers a great employment and business opportunity to the youth of the country as the penetration of mobile phones is only increasing. Agarwal added that the students, most of whom come from financially weak backgrounds, manage to earn a decent living after the course.

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Mobile Repairing For Jobs, Business Gains Popularity Among Rajasthan Youth

Date: 10 July

Place: Udaipur

Participants:

Ram Singh, 18; Education: BA

Kishan Lohar, 24; Education: B.Com

Gajendra Patel,17; Education: Class XII

Ayush Jain, 18; Education: B.Com

Dinesh Singh, 22; Education: BA

Mohammad Nadeem, 20; Education: BA

Bhadra Veer Singh, 20; Education: BA

That mobiles are part of our everyday lives is something all of us echo ever so often — at work, at social gatherings, and more. But on Day 4 of Digital Rajasthan Yatra II, we got some real insights from the ground level on how the mobile revolution has swept the country.

During our visit to Udaipur, Team Inc42 caught up with Ram Singh, Kishan Lohar, Gajendra Patel, Ayush Jain, Dinesh Singh, Mohammad Nadeem, and Bhadra Veer Singh, all of whom have more than basic education, ranging from Class XII to undergraduate courses.

All of them are undergoing training in mobile repairing at Khatu Shyam Infotech Solutions Pvt Ltd (KHITS) in Udaipur. The mobile repairing business has great scope in the city as mobile phones are an essential part of everyone’s life today. The students travel 40-50 km every day from their villages to Udaipur for the classes.

The average fee of the course at the centre is about INR 5,900, for a period of two months. However, the students can continue with the course for a longer period and brush up their skills without paying any extra fee. In addition, the institute also provides direct placement for a minimum salary between INR 10,000 – INR 12,000.

The students we met want to gain some hands-on experience in a job and then aspire to open their own repairing centre. The expenditure in this business is INR 50,000 – INR 1 Lakh. These young aspiring entrepreneurs can avail of loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which offers loans at a nominal rate of 0.6% per annum.

The gender ratio typically is low in the field of mobile repairing as women don’t generally opt for this profession.

Mobile repairing courses have become hugely popular in the state since many claim that professional courses like the RS-CIT (Rajasthan State Certificate course in Information Technology), Tally, and accounting do not yield substantial benefits for the students.

Mobile Penetration Among The Youth of Rajasthan

Mobile usage and Internet penetration are high among the youth of Rajasthan — from online deliveries providing exciting cashbacks, to Internet frauds, they are on top of everything. They prefer to may in cash-on-delivery mode for online orders because there is still a slight fear of and apprehension about online payments. They use mobile and DTH recharge, PayTm, etc, regularly.

Like other places in India, WhatsApp is the most frequently used mobile application among the youth here as well. They are quite aware of and wary of the fake news circulated on WhatsApp. And, all of them have Jio sim cards with monthly packages of 3 GB per day, which they use to access Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and to watch movies.

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SBI Joins Hands With Rajasthan Govt To Empower Youth

The State Bank Of India (SBI), which has been working relentlessly to empower the rural youth of Rajasthan, has joined hands with the state government to support Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs).

The SBI bears all the costs of the RSETI in Pali, which is given in the form of a donation. After the training is over, the SBI helps the candidates avail of bank loans to start their own ventures and also conducts digital drives to educate people on using smartphones and applications to make life easier for them.

The RSETIs come under the ministry of rural development of the central government. There is one such training institute in every district and a total of 587 such centres across the state. RSETIs are managed by banks with active co-operation from the central and state governments.

In Pali, the Inc42 team met Anand Prakash (in pic), who works as a manager with the SBI. Currently, he is deputed at an SBI-sponsored RSETI in Pali for a period of three years.

The government reimburses the bank for the training of candidates falling in the Below Poverty Line (BPL), Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), and a few other categories; the cost comes to INR 100-150 per day. The trainees are also provided refreshments for free, the cost of which is borne by the donor bank, the SBI, and the government.

The candidates are not charged a registration fee to join courses at the RSETIs. They simply have to fill in registration forms and submit five photographs, copies of their Aadhaar and ration cards and a minimum education certificate (in a few cases). However, furnishing a Class XII marksheet is mandatory for candidates applying for accountancy, computer management, and some other courses.

RSETIs offer courses in computer accounting that cover the basics of computer education and progress towards the basics of bookkeeping softwares such as Tally.

For vocational courses, on the other hand, a Class V pass certificate is mandatory. These minimum education requirements are as per government mandates.

The courses overall are short-term, generally spanning 30 days. Every day, eight hours of training is provided, amounting to a total of 240 hours under each course. The courses are employment oriented, so the trainers deliver high-quality teaching in order to ensure that the students’ standards are true to the certification. The key focus is on people from the economically weaker sections of society, who can’t afford to pay the fee for such courses. The monthly family incomes of these students are between INR 8,000 to INR 10,000 on average.

A formal examination is conducted and based on the results, students are issued certificates by the central government that are valid all over the country.

The Positive Impact Of The Digitisation Drive Across India

Given the rising focus on digitisation, entrepreneurship, and online banking, Bharat QR and the Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC) are making efforts to ensure that along with receiving skill development training, the youth are made digitally aware as well.

The people of Rajasthan have shown a positive attitude towards digitisation and the youth, in particular, are very curious to learn all of its nuances. Most of those who do these course opt for entrepreneurship. The donor bank also facilitates loans for students who are interested in starting their own ventures after the training.

The Centre and the Rajasthan government give a priority to certified students while sanctioning loans. The loan application needs to be approved and referred by the institute and the bank to take the case further. The loan amount depends on the nature and scale of the proposed business.

“The prospects of digital change are very high. It has the potential to bring about a revolution and change the way we live and see the world,” said Anand Prakash.

Currently, the settlement rate of students doing courses from the RSETI is 68%, of which 40% opt for entrepreneurship and 28% go for competitive exams or private jobs. A majority of the computer trainees opt for jobs and the institutes also provide placements with an average pay scale of INR 10,000 – INR 15,000 per month.

BharatQR is a mobile application created by the government, which facilitates integrated online payments such as NEFT/RTGS transfers without the need to actually go to the bank. This has made transactions easily accessible and convenient for everyone.

The RSLDC runs another skill development centre in Pali that is fully funded by the government. It conducts a short 45-minute session on digital education for all the students, irrespective of the course they are enrolled in. The session aims to impart basic knowledge of digital banking such as operating ATMs, using Internet banking, the BHIM payment app, etc.

The Empowered Women Of Rajasthan

The women’s enrollment ratio in the computer-oriented courses at the Pali RSETI is comparatively low. However, this is slowly changing. In the last batch, there were 10 girls in a class of 24 students. Female students who undergo vocational training in sewing, beauty courses, etc, often go on to open their own training centres.

Both married and unmarried young women enrol in the courses. The women enrolled in these courses feel that financial independence makes them feel empowered and, eventually, improves the living standard of their families as a whole.

There have been several success stories that have emerged from these training centres. For instance, Pushpa Banjara, a trainer at the Pali centre, overcame a major personal setback thanks to the course. She had a disturbed relationship with her husband, who left her alone with two children to look after. She joined the sewing course at the centre to become financially independent. After passing out from the course, she started teaching at the centre; she also runs her own training centre and takes on tailoring work as well. She is financially independent and is able to provide a good education for her children without any support from her husband.

In another instance, a trainee at the centre, Jhanvi, got a direct placement after completing her computer training course and is now earning around INR 10,000 – INR 15,000 per month.

NACER’s Role In Regulating Skill Training Centres Across India

The National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs (NACER), headquartered in Bengaluru, is the apex body authorised by the Centre to regulate and control the skill development institutes and the courses offered in them across India. To become a trainer at any of the RSETIs, one needs to undergo a formal trainer’s training programme in Bengaluru, conducted by the NACER. At the completion of the course, a certificate is issued to the candidate allowing him/her to conduct formal courses at RSETIs.

The minimum target set by the NACER for RSETIs is to enrol 750 students every year at each centre, of which approximately 100 must enrol for computer-oriented courses.

The aspirants are interviewed and scrutinised so as to assess their standard and capabilities, after which they get admitted to the course. There have been instances of young people who wanted to become engineers but couldn’t afford engineering course fees opting for hardware and computer-based courses at the RSETIs to keep their dream alive.

Awareness About RSETIs Still Low

The government does extensive promotion to create awareness about the free training programmes at RSETIs via newspapers, pamphlets, door-to-door marketing, etc. However, word-of-mouth publicity is one of the prime driving factors for the centres. Past students share their experiences with their peers, which, in turn, encourages others to join the centres. But still, there is a need to educate and spread awareness about RSETIs so that more people can benefit from them.

More than 50% of the enrolments are from the labour and daily wage-earning class, who are a bit sceptical about the benefits of the training. The trainers at these institutes play an important role in orienting them well with the courses and assuring them that the training will help provide employment to their children.

A Holistic Approach By The SBI

The SBI is also taking initiatives to increase awareness about online transactions. Bank officials visit different neighbourhoods and educate the people, especially women, about online transaction apps. They help them download such apps on their phones and explain the functioning to them. They also spread awareness among local vendors, grocers, etc, so as to ensure greater adoption of digital payments across cross-sections. People are enthused about using such apps at coffee shops, grocery stores, and even local vegetable vendors.

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