50 Years Of Independent India - The Development Story

Five decades of "independence" created a lifetime of dependence amongst the truest sons of the soil… the farmers, artisans, and craftsmen living in rural India… who depended for everything from a good education, to access to credit, to means of earning livelihood, and above all else, to the information resources. The chasm between the governed and the "civil servants" grew ever more… the "leaders" met their constituents each time they wanted a vote, but alas, never otherwise. 85% of India lives in its rural and semi-urban areas… a life of unfulfilled human wants.

In the post-liberalization India, reams and reams of pages were devoted to the "emerging Indian middle-class"… but the 85% were still forgotten. Not until the dawn of the new century was it realized that the rich man's toy - the computer - could have other socially useful utilities on offer. It took a band of nationalistic youth to conjure up the vision of an India where access to information and access to the government was not a mere pipedream… it was a digital reality.

Drishtee - Living a Dream

Ordinary citizens with ordinary problems such as a perennially shut village school or a dysfunctional water resource, or ordinary requests such as the grant of a domicile certificate, walk into a kiosk, narrate their problem, pay a small token transaction fee and get a receipt of the lodgment of their request / complaint. The administration, on its part acted on the complaint / request within pre-set time-frames and in the process, a win-win-win situation was created - the citizen got what he wanted, the kiosk-owner, a local entrepreneur was gainfully employed, and the administration served its obligation without much ado. While turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the hapless "ordinary citizen" was a cake-walk for the civil servant, the inaction and apathy vaporized when the political and administration masters kept their fingers on the pulse of the manner in which citizen complaints / requests were being dealt with.

Today, the information kiosk has come to symbolize the realization of India's dream for rural self-dependence, inter alia, through self-employment and entrepreneurship development (every kiosk owner is a local entrepreneur), while giving easy access to critical agriculture market information (the absence of which was letting the middlemen skim the milk) to the rural commodity / crafts producers, created a strong bridge between the citizen and his administration, enhanced the quality of life through access to career and life information (e.g. Insurance/ Placements / Matrimonial / Training & Development / Medicine).

The vision for tomorrow…

Drishtee is a scalable, universally beneficial model of citizen-connect. Certain parts of India have felt the development impact of the Drishtee kiosk, and it would be unfair for the rest the world to go without it. The Drishtee Foundation, in collaboration with Drishtee and its technological partners has the wherewithal to replicate the success stories across the world at least 50000 kiosks over the next 7 years.

Can it be done? YES. Will it be done? YES.

How will it happen, or is this merely a smoke-and-mirror situation?

Today, starting a Kiosk is a dream of every motivated village entrepreneur. But not all can pay for it upfront. In fact only 10 % of the applicants have the financial strength to pay the $ 1250. 30 % aspires for a bank loan by mortgaging their farmland or house. But perhaps the best ones - 60 % of the candidates are found credit unworthy by State controlled banks, as they do not have property to mortgage or clout in the government to get the counter guarantee. Thanks to the incessant state of development in IT, a technologically superior information kiosk can be set-up today at a less than USD 1300. A small, one-time contribution of USD 1250 can change the quality of life of over 750 families. For the Drishtee Foundation and Drishtee, it is their most cherished dream to have not less than a kiosk per 1000 population with the addition of more services. It may be a distant dream… but it is achievable, and we will do it. We invite you to be a part of the movement to build a stronger world.

For every partnership entered in by you, we shall give you a monthly update on the progress through an online MIS, the difference it has made to the lives of people and a statement of revenue generated. Technology permitting, we shall also endeavor to web-conference you with the citizens in your sponsored kiosk's footprint, for you to have the satisfaction of your contribution being well spent.

Donations are accepted by cheque / credit card. Favoring "Drishtee Foundation", New Delhi.