The Internet has finally arrived in rural India in a small but significant way. Will the massive expenditure on bandwidth and connectivity be justified by effective and uniform utilization of these resources and technology?

Dotcom bubbles, online shopping, e-business and surfing the Net were restricted to urban India. But the Internet is now finding its way into the lives of people living in rural India too. It does seem that the vast 'digital divide', that exists between rural and urban India might be on its way to being bridged.

But does rural India need the Internet? Will the massive expenditure on bandwidth and connectivity be justified by effective and uniform utilization of these resources and technology?

Wiring rural India

Thanks to persistent efforts by various non-profit organizations and central and state governments toward bringing rural India closer to the 'wired' world, the conventional telephone booth dotting rural India is now beginning to sport multiple beige boxes to resemble cybercafes.

The Ministry of Information Technology has ambitious plans to convert over 6,00,000 public call offices (PCOs) into public 'tele-info-centres' offering a variety of services such as Internet browsing, fax, e-mail, and DTP. The Karnataka Telecom Circle is seeking franchisees for Internet dhabas while the Maharashtra state government is said to have plans to link 40,000 villages with Agronet, a specially developed software package for farmers, which aims to provide the latest information on agriculture, including the crop pattern.

Development Alternatives, a Delhi-based non-profit organization has launched TaraHaat, an initiative to bring the Internet to rural India. Launched in Tikamgarh District, Madhya Pradesh, TaraHaat is a first portal designed to connect non-Web savvy farmers to essential services like current prices of agricultural produce, weather conditions and medical advice for a couple of rupees worth of connect-time on the Net from TARAdhaba's or public kiosks, run by independent local franchisees, just like PCOs.

"TARAhaat.com is currently in the pilot phase with some 10 TARAdhabas operating in the Bundelkhand region in Jhansi." says Dr Ashok Khosla of Development Alternatives. "We are putting up around a dozen IT centres in Bhatinda district of Punjab, which should be operational within the next few weeks. The portal is accessible to IT centres through the 'closed user group' connection system based on the satellite communication system."

TaraHaat will also facilitate e-commerce with online shopping for products and services needed by rural households, farmers and industries -- from provisions, to appliances like TVs and fans to farm inputs and factory raw materials.