CITIZENS' CENTRES

Background

The Right to Information Act was passed in India in October 2005, giving all citizens the right to access information about government and administration. However, citizens living in rural and semi-urban areas do not enjoy either access to information or the awareness to generate such information. Second, information technology is now a prerequisite for the global economy. However, people from poor, rural areas remain computer illiterate and, therefore, are left out of the development process.

Our Citizens’ Centre Enterprise (CCE) programme intends to fill this gap by bringing IT and access to information to rural and semi-urban areas. In addition, each CCE is also a small enterprise.

Strategy

The CCEs are equipped with computers, Internet access, and a small library with newspapers and magazines. Additionally, the people running these centres create awareness about the roles and rights of citizens, and enable villagers to register for voting and apply for passports and ration cards. The centres stock forms to apply for government loans or pension schemes. They help villagers file and track online petitions against poor roads, bad lighting, or other civic problems. Hand in Hand mobilises citizens to form Good Governance Rights Protection Committees with volunteers taking the initiative for this work.

In addition, each CCE is a revenue-generating enterprise for a woman from a self-help group. Hand in Hand provides loans and training to interested women to invest in a computer and equipment and set up a CCE. We also help each CCE to increase its revenue stream by exploring new market tie-ups. The centres offer paid services such as desktop publishing, formatting and printouts of school and college projects, fax, and pay telephone, as well as online matrimonial services and online college admissions. Finally, CCEs hold classes in computer literacy training for all interested villagers at a minimal fee of INR50 per person.