“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow" - Robert H. Goddard

Rewarding Excellence - Celebrating Success

Drishtee’s achievements and progress are going hand in hand with Drishtee Foundation’s professionally driven Research and Community Outreach programs. We are also happy to see Quiver taking shape which is a subsidiary of Drishtee – empowered to completly focus only on structuring and design of sustainable and value-driven business models for various in-demand rural services. In the meantime, our partner in E-governance initiatives, Cyber Infodev has also taken few more leading steps to cover many others districts and tehsils with the implementations of EPKs (E-Prashasan Kendras) in various parts of India.

With all this, to inspire us more we are very happy to again activate our Communication channel through “Jharokha” and assure you that we would now stay on with our Quarterly issues of this Newsletter. With the festive season round the corner, Drishtee family along with its partners and contributors celebrates this reconnect and thank all of the Jharokha readers for their support and encouragement in Drishtee’s endeavor towards realizing its vision of “Connecting India Village by Village”.

Drishtee Foundation in its continued effort to serve the rural community carried out a village level study called “Panchayat Adhyayan” at Saurath Panchayat of Madhubani District of Bihar from April 2006 to June 2006. “Adhyayan” is a Hindi term that means “Study to gain knowledge”. “Panchayat Adhyayan” aimed to collect the micro-level data for better understanding of the problems and issues at village level and the needs related to ICTs Services, so that the demand potentiality as well as delivery patterns of various rural services like Micro Finance, BPO, e-Health health insurance, preventive health checkup package etc. can be better understood. These results and data collected here would further help to develop a demand estimation model for these services in villages and provide a scientific base to devise a concrete Panchayat Study Tool to cover the critical indicators of other Panchayats of India.

Why Panchayat?

A Panchayat is a well-accepted unit of socio-economic and socio-political segmentation and thus also for any relevant impact. Drishtee’s ICT Center Model works at the Panchayat level as it ensures the availability of best possible market size, reach and generally measurable or predictable customer expectations and responses. That is why the dynamics of each Panchayat plays a very important role in the successful implementation of Drishtee centers and establishment of expected relationships with the target communities.

Why Saurath Panchayat?

Drishtee’s Service Development Subsidiary- Quiver chose Saurath as the suitable Panchayat for ‘Panchayat Adhyayan’ because Saurath is on an average level in terms of its distance from the district headquarters in Madhubani; Economic Status and National Literacy Levels.

Highlights of Panchayat Adhyayan

Facts and Figures of Saurath

The Panchayat has 1282 nos. households and a total population of 6162, with a population density of around 1130 people per square km, and average family size of 4.8 members. The literacy rate in Saurath is 50.2%, which is appreciable as compared to the Bihar state statistics (National literacy rate 73.08% & state literacy rate 47.53%). Agriculture is the main source of income, 51.3% of the total households having agriculture or agri-labor as their prime source of earning. As a result of the study it was found that 69% of the Households took loan for one or more reasons out of which 61% fall under the monthly income group of less than Rs.2000. Due to unawareness and ignorance they prefer taking loans from the local merchants and relatives on a high interest rate that varies between 10 to 30 percent. This shows that the future prospect for banks and small and micro financing companies which can lend the villagers money on comparatively very low interest rates and also save them from becoming the victims of the local rich people and merchants, is very high. It was also discovered during the survey that there were many women who are involved in various activities like stitching, handicraft, knitting and agriculture, and earn a good profit. Small loans can help them grow with their cottage industry and also increase the women entrepreneurship in other Panchayats.

The health-based results of the survey show that due to the unavailability of MBBS doctors at local level and health centers, the people usually depend on the quacks for the treatment of general illness. The people with the monthly income below Rs.1000 and Rs.2000 spend 24.9% and 18.4% percent of their monthly income on healthcare, respectively. The overall observation displays a picture where an average of 20% of monthly income of every income group is spent on health related issues, which includes everything from doctors’ fees to medicines to traveling expenditure. Also at the time of Medical emergencies people have no choice but to take loans from merchants and relatives on high interest rates. Seeing this Drishtee presented a well prepared Rural e-Health Model that comprised of health insurance and preventive health checkup package, designed specifically for the rural populace, along with the Tele-medicine (e-health), which included consulting reputed doctors .Although prima-facie people were hesitant towards these services but after understanding the whole model they showed eagerness towards implementing this model at the earliest.
One of the objectives of the Panchayat Adhyayan took account of the potentiality of the rural youth for providing them jobs in future. It was found that although not much people in the village were computer literate, but still they had a great inclination towards it and 9 computer literate people among the villagers were also ready to invest in the Business Process Outsourcing model presented to them by Drishtee. Drishtee prepared a BPO model for the rural people where the computer literate village youth can be trained on typing, data entry and by providing them with the basic information related to education, agriculture and health that can be further used for connecting them to various BPO projects. It was also found that as the cultivation of Makhana is done on a large scale, the village can be linked to different parts of the country for Makhana trade, which will also open new doors for other small scale industries.

Pallav Jain, an intern from the IIM, Ahmedabad, who was the Team Leader for this project, agrees that there were various behavioral problems faced in the initial stages in making people understand ICT based services in Saurath, but also assures the DF team that at the end if these services can be rendered successfully in Saurath, the Adhyayan based mechanism would be strong enough to be replicated to any kind of Indian villages without any major problems.

He is Kaadir Ahmed of Sultanpur, hard working, ambitious and self-motivated. As a kiosk owner of Drishtee, he has hitched his wagon on the path of success to earn revenues and offer a range of services to the community. Due to his commendable efforts, Kaadir Ahmed is now one of the well-known persons of his area. At the age of 37, Kaadir knows how to achieve his targets and works hard towards meeting his desired aims and objectives. He has set a landmark for other kiosk operators of his district and other parts of the country through his fast learning and innovation which reflects in his good business planning and continuously growing target achievements.

Kaadir holds a post graduate degree in Sociology and also has been working for LIC Insurance as an agent and member for about a couple of years. As he has been the major bread earner of his family which include his parents, wife and 4 children, the challenge for him was manifolds. He works not only for sustenance but also to afford better education for the children and security for everyone’s future. Drishtee Kiosk has been a way out in this respect for him, where through his commendable efforts and sharp-mindedness he is not only fulfilling his objectives but also is coming up as an effective social entrepreneur – who can impact the society in various ways.

His earlier work experience and Drishtee Training helped him in instigating his kiosk without any hassles on July 29th, 2005. Because of his educational and professional background he could manage through the initial hick-ups of establishing a business – as revolutionary as Drishtee Kiosk. Kaadir is confident and believes in himself. He would always abide by the rule of hard work and honesty – which according to him are the key factors that have paved his way to growth and success.

Kaadir has been innovative enough to launch various Customer Offers and Schemes to attract a wider audience for the Kiosk Services. He has even packaged a couple of services like that of English Communication (STEP) course and the Computer Training Diploma (DCGP of CEEP) to offer higher value and also to tap the future potential through cross selling. Till date more than 50 students have been benefited by the education services rendered by him.

Kaadir’s contribution in Insurance sector is remarkable in his region as he had to breakthrough the typical barriers of mind set and educate customers on the need of insurance as a Savings Service to them rather than a Buying Service as they usually would perceive.

In marketing efforts, he can be taken as an example as he is amongst those initiators to have hired the local team for a detail market survey, especially for the Motor Insurance. As a result of his sharp business planning, market study, endeavors and inclination towards community development, on one hand today he is able to earn what he had decided and his income of Rs.60, 000/- in one of the months’ comes as no surprise, and on the other hand contributing majorly to the education and growth of the society as a whole.

In less than a year, Kaadir has proved his competence and has delivered a message that he would never step back and would never hesitate to take up challenges.

Sultanpur, situated on the bank of river Gomti, is an ancient city, which holds many mythological and historical values. Founded by Kush, one of the two sons of Lord Rama, in the Ramayana era, it was then known as Kusapur. It also had its significance during the reign of Kauravas and Pandavas. This ancient city was rediscovered and identified by General Cunningham as the ‘Kusapur’ as mentioned by Hiuentsang, the Chinese traveler. This town was later known as Sultanpur and was raised to the ground during the military operations in consequence of the inhabitants being involved in the murder of British officers at the outbreak of the freedom struggle of 1857.

Today, Sultanpur is the headquarter of one of the prominent districts of Uttar Pradesh. It is a part of the Administrative Division Faizabad and geographically lies between 81.32 and 82.41 degrees east longitude and 25.59 and 26.40 degrees north latitude. The District is bound by Faizabad and Pratapgarh districts respectively in its north and south. In the east its boundary touches Azamgarh, Ambedkar Nagar, Jaunpur and in the west it touches Barabanki and Raebareli districts. The climate of Sultanpur is semi-arid with very hot summer and equally cold winter. During the summers, the maximum temperature goes beyond 44 degrees Celsius and in winters it is as low as 3 to 4 degrees. Here agriculture is the main source of income and the most cultivated crops are food grains and sugarcane. The only important mineral here is kankar which is found in great abundance all along the bed of Gomti.

It’s good news for development sector that information technology has penetrated deeply in Sultanpur district and the nearby areas. Computer awareness among the people has got a great leap during the later part of 1990s mainly due to government efforts. The IT education will maintain its growth rate as it has a remarkable significance in the dynamic technological environment. The contribution of government in the development of this district has been vital, and it, through various schemes and development plans is making Sultanpur and the nearby areas one of the most developed districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The ICT profile of Sultanpur also highlights Drishtee on the map of the district. In this district there are already 20 kiosks of Drishtee and other 42 are in the signup phase. Through these kiosks, the kiosk owners are working towards spreading the Drishtee services for the benefits of the villagers. Kaadir Ahmed is one of the most successful Kiosk Owners of district running his enterprise in the Jagdishpur block. District Magistrate Ms. Veena Kumari Meena is very supportive of the efforts taken up through the use of ICTs for the benefit of the local citizens. Drishtee is now also focusing on including more of women and low income group representatives as the Kiosk Owners in the districts to further its efforts of promoting these sections in the network.

Quiver Infoservices Limited (QIL) is a recently formed subsidiary of Drishtee Dot Com Limited whose objective is to develop services for ICT enabled rural networks. This includes development, deployment and orchestration of service delivery channels for the rural customers through the use of information and communication technologies in India or abroad. For achieving its objectives, Quiver could also be performing various ICT based activities like of data processing, internet, email, website designing and other related tasks like that of organizing, e-commerce, e-business etc. It could in future also run, establish and or manage cyber cafes, computer learning centers and institutes or divert to develop, import, export, sell, lease, assemble and fabricate computer hardware and/or software as well.

Initially, for a couple of financial years, Quiver is working on evolving five major service verticals, namely Education, e-commerce, BPO, Agriculture, Microfinance and e-health. The idea is to maximize the impact of ICTs on livelihood of rural India through these services and make these critical services available as off the shelf services for any ICT network enabler like Drishtee.

Drishtee is proud to be the recipient of Red Herring 100 Asia Award for 2006.

Red Herring, Inc., founded in 1993 with HQ( in Belmont, California) , is a media company whose mission is to cover innovation, technology, financing and entrepreneurial activity. Its staff of award-winning journalists tell readers what's first, what matters and most importantly, why. They are a skeptical, intelligent and trustworthy source of information in technology business. Journalists, research specialists and newsletter editors of Red Herring ,Inc. investigate on a global basis and report how the world of innovation and entrepreneurship are transforming business and how the business of technology is transforming the world.

After a difficult evaluation process, the Red Herring editorial team has selected Drishtee as one of the most promising “hottest internet/services startups” in all of Asia. Through a stringent application review process, it has vetted Asia’s hottest technology startups.

Red Herring as it had also recognized Google’s potential in its initial stages and its Top 100 Asia Award is like being equated with the best in business in terms of potential. After winning a series of Indian and foreign awards and accolades as a Social Enterprise, Drishtee now with Red Herring’s Recognition, establishes itself more firmly on the Business Enterprise Platform. The visionary endeavors of the founder Satyan Mishra has brought Drishtee to a take off pad from where with appropriate mix of business and emotional sense, it can reach to its well-aspired goals and objectives.

This award adds a new dimension to the ever burgeoning tally of Drishtee since Red Herring Asia is known to have long delivered clear and intelligent insight into the critical trends shaping the future of technology. It brings together industry leaders, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and its own business intelligence team to share ideas and present its research-based discoveries. The Award will provide Drishtee a platform to present its model for the facilitation of a more expansive understanding to the International community. This will undoubtedly act as a springboard to pitchfork Drishtee into the International arena as a pioneer of rural development.

We are sharing with you the web link for Red Herring Asia’s citation on Drishtee on its website http://www.herringevents.com/rhasia06/index.html

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