Salzburg/New Delhi, October 8, 2008: With the backdrop of identifying the best prac-tioners of the south asian region, the Digital Empowerment Foundation and the WorldSummit Award are organising together with the Center for e-Governance, the SouthAsia Conclave on ICT & Digital Content for Development as part of efforts to strengthenthe Digital Content Movement in the countries of the region.

The prime objective of this initiative is to promote quality contents as an essential ele-ment in the creation of a quality information society and to address the widening digitaldivides and strategies to bridge the content gap between the North and the South.

South Asian countries play a critical role in advancing the Digital Content Movementthanks to the strong economic growth of the last years and the high levels of technicaleducation and creativity among multimedia and internet professionals, companies andNGOs.

Yet, as the biannual global contests of the World Summit Award have shown in 2003,2005 and 2007, the potential is not fully used. Rather, South Asian countries remainunderrepresented among the winners of the World Summit Award.

Thus, the strategic direction of WSA is to strengthen the digital content industries andthe creative development in the region by holding national contests in all countries andpartnering with leading organisations such as the Digital Empowerment Foundation forconducting workshops, conferences and Global Digital Content Summits.

WSA's plan up to 2015 foresees a myriad of innovative content in fixed line and mobileInternet applications.

WSA takes great pride at leading this vision thanks to the cooperation with theManthan Award, which now proactively encompass the entire South Asia for the WorldSummit Award.

I look forward to personally get involved with the movement in South Asia.

Cheers,

Peter BruckChairmanWorld Summit Award

MATHAN AWARDS IN INDIA & SOUTH ASIA

ICT & Digital Content for Development

I CONTENTS I 3 I

Patrons and Board 4Jurors Graffiti 5Statistics 6Winners’ List 7Acknowledgement 9Analysis 10Poor as Provider 12Fundamentals 14Community Broadcasting 16E-business 18E-culture & entertainment 19E-education 21

E-enterprise & Livelihood 23E-government 25E-health 26E-inclusion 28E-learning 29E-localisation 30E-news 32E-science & Environment 33M-content 34Jurors’ distinction award for Innovation 35Aappreciation award for emerging state 36

I 4 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I PATRONS & BOARD I

Hon Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia

Prof Peter A. Bruck

Prof Anil Gupta

Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala

Prof Bibek Debroy

Sanjeev Chopra

Dr Ganesh Natrajan

FC Kohli

Shankar Venkateswaran

Osama Manzar

Patrons & Board

I JUROR’S GRAFFITI I 5 I

Ramesh Kumar Beltron Telecom

Satish KaushalIBM, India

Lekha KumarGovernment of India

Amol GojeVidya Pratishthan's Institute of Information

Technology

Peeyush BajpaiRaftaar.com

Ashish GargGeSCI

Dr Amir Ullah KhanIndia Development Foundation

Vinnie MehtaManufacturer's Association for

Information Technology

Manas ChakrabartiEducation Consultant

Mansoor AhmedEducation specialist

Rajen VaradaUN Solution Exchange

A. A. Munir HasanPMO, Bangladesh

Dr G SahooBIT Mesra

I 6 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I STATISTICS I

I WINNERS LIST I 7 I

COMMUNITY BROADCASTING: 03

Dambadeniya Community

Radio, Sri Lanka

Equal Access, Nepal

Kalanjiam Samuga Vanoli

Community Radio, Tamil Nadu,

India

E-BUSINESS: 02

Safal National Exchange of

India Limited, Karnataka, India

ngpay, Karnataka, India

E-CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT: 03

UnnayanTV ( Development TV),

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Youth Voice - (Netbetar),

Dhaka, Bangladesh

www.kharia.in, Jhakhand,

India

E-EDUCATION: 03

Gyandarshan - Gyanvani ,

IGNOU, New Delhi, India

'Learn with fun', Karnataka,

India

Kissan Krishideepam, Kerala,

India

E-ENTERPRISE & LIVELIHOOD: 03

ITSHED, Sri Lanka

GiveIndia , India

JEEON-IKB , Bangladesh

E-GOVERNMENT: 02

Unified Ration card project ,

Chattisgarh, India

VoteBD.org, Dhaka,

Bangladesh

E-INCLUSION: 02

Arpit's Wheel, Delhi, India

Digital Talking Books , Sri Lanka

E-HEALTH: 04

WebHealthCentre, Tamil Nadu,

India

Integrated Digital Health

Platform, Andhra Pradesh,

India

We In Recovery, New Delhi,

India

Project HIGH>>>WAYS…

beyond cancer, Maharashtra,

India (SPECIAL MENTION)

E-LEARNING: 02

DigitALly, Karnataka, India

MEdRC EduTech, Andhra

Pradesh, India

E-LOCALISATION: 03

Hoimonti, Bangladesh

LIPIKAAR, Maharashtra, India

Sea Monkey, Afghanistan

E-NEWS: 02

Pratibadh (Wall Newspaper),

New Delhi, India

CGNet, Chattisgarh, India

E-SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT: 01

India Water Portal, Karnataka,

India

M-CONTENT: 01

CellBazaar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

JURORS’ DISTINCTION AWARD

FOR INNOVATION

IPSupermarket.com,

Karnataka, India

VoiKiosk, Delhi / Hyderabad,

India

I 8 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I WINNERS I

INDIA - 22

NEPAL - 1Equal Access

AFGHANISTAN - 1Sea Monkey - Font Development in Pashto

SRI LANKA - 3Dambadeniya Community Radio Digital Talking Books ITSHED

BANGLADESH - 6CellBazaarHoimontiVoteBD.org JEEON-IKB Youth Voice - (Netbetar)UnnayanTV

ANDHRA PRADESH - 2MEdRC EduTech Health Management and Research Institute(HMRI)

TAMIL NADU - 2Web Health CentreKalanjiam Samuga Vanoli Community Radio

KARNATAKA - 6IPsupermarket.com India Water Portal DigitALly'Learn with Fun' ngpaySafal National Exchange of India Limited

JHARKHAND - 1www.kharia.in

NCR Delhi - 5VoiKioskPratibadh (Wall Newspaper)

Arpit's WheelWe In RecoveryGyandarshan - Gyanvani

KERALA - 1Kissan Krishideepam

MAHARASHTRA - 3LIPIKAARProject HIGH>>>WAYS… beyond cancerGiveIndia - The power to change lives

CHHATISGARH - 2CGNetUnified Ration card project

Every state has different number of nominees. Manthan Award South Asia 2008

received nominations from 24 States & UTs in India. Likewise, there are different num-bers of winners from each of the 17 states. Following are the winners as per their state.

I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I 9 I

An idea, they say, can change your life. Andthis annual edition of the Manthan Award2008 is a compilation of ideas in the domainof ICT and digital Content for development,which have materialized into practices andinterventions bringing about positive changesin the lives of the larger population. But whatmakes this publication extra special in thetrue sense of the word is that it tries todemystify the widespread notion of Indiabeing a forerunner in the use of ICT and digi-tal content for development, and brings tolimelight countries from South Asia which areequally having notable interventions inbridging the digital divide.

The joy is tremendous in terms of having allSouth Asian countries within the ManthanAward umbrella, for not merely widening theambit, but for taking forward the objectives ofthe Manthan Award in recognizing innovativeICT and digital content innovations and prac-tices. The joy is in breaking boundaries andgetting inclusive by including all neighbours inthe award process and in its core objectivesand values in ICT and digital content fordevelopment. . It is equally exhilarating towitness the varied experiences on work, thehard work, diligence and brains across theeight countries in South Asia. This specialpublication is at attempt to capture all these.Overall, it is all about growth of the ManthanAward and its outreach at the South Asia leveland celebrating the diverse innovations andpractices across 13 categories. .

A quote by Hellen Keller is apt here. Sheonce remarked, "I know I am one, I cannot do

everything, but there is something that I cando, and I shall not refrain myself from doingthat something." Likewise, the ManthanAward process is clear on its intent andcapacity to facilitate in creating a digital con-tent for development movement across SouthAsia. The objectives are clear as to facilitate anetwork of ICT and digital content practition-ers, innovators, technology incubators, policystakeholders and others through this ManthanAward platform for learning, sharing andexperimenting from each other.

The mandate is clear for the Manthan Awardand Digital Empowerment Foundation; not tobring any revolution in the ICT and digital con-tent domain, but in facilitating in creation ofan apt digital content for development envi-ronment in South Asia, building awareness oncritical aspects of ICT and digital content forcommunity development and empowermentthrough the agents of change in the ManthanAward winners and nominees. The ManthanAward is clear that it cannot bring the muchneeded revolution to cause an overnight dis-appearance of the digital divide in India andSouth Asia. But it is assured of itself in doingits bit to boost the nascent digital contentmovement in South Asia to the best of itsabilities.

This special publication is intended to providean insight into the winners and their innova-tive practices and innovations. It is expectedto throw light on ideas and experiments in ICTand digital content domain with an intentionto boost and motivate those who intend tomake efforts in brining development impact

using technology tools and applications.

The effort of Manthan Award is always incom-plete without the timely support and encour-agement from partner countries, Ministries,agencies, organizations. Our special acknowl-edgement goes to Ministry ofCommunications & Information Technology(India), World Summit Award (Austria), Centrefor e-Governance (DIT, India), and Mint (India)for their whole hearted support in carryingforward the objectives of the Manthan Awardsuccessfully. Our acknowledgement also goesto BNNRC and D.Net (Bangladesh), Ministry ofCommunications & IT (Afghanistan), ICTA (SriLanka) in taking extra pain in making theManthan Award South Asia 2008 really hap-pening at South Asia level.

Our special gratitude goes to StateGovernments of Kerala, Nagaland, Jharkhandand Lakshadweep in believing in the values ofthe Manthan Award and in supporting in morethan one way.

The support from the private stakeholders hasbeen always relevant in bridging the develop-ment gaps. Our special acknowledgment goesto IBM, CORE, Edurite, Designmate and Intelin trusting in the Manthan Award processesand wholeheartedly supporting in both finan-cial and otherwise in holding the 3 days con-clave successfully. The moral and materialsupport from Commonwealth of Learning,Farm ERP, National Institute of OpenSchooling, IGNOU, IAMAI, MicroAssociates,Arghyam, Aarogya.com and MEdRC deservesour special acknowledgment.

The support from our knowledge and grass-roots partners was equally timely and mean-ingful. The support from KPMG, Civil Society,Dataquest, i-Government, Industree, BarefootCollege, TFTP, SEWA, UN Solution Exchange,Media Lab Asia, Sristi and Honeybee, anddesicrew were tremendous in successfulcompletion of the event. Our special gratitudegoes to SMS One Pune (past ManthanAwardee) in wholesome facilitation in holdingthe event successfully.

Here, I would like to specially thank theGovernment of Jharkhand in pulling out allstops to host the Manthan Award Grand Jury2008 at Ranchi and in facilitating in holdingthe final events. It was a great experience tosee the emerging State taking so much inter-est and efforts in facilitating development inthe nascent state using ICT and digital con-tent in multiple ways.

Coming out with the ManthanAward Publication along with the hectic preparationsthat go into making Manthan Awards a suc-cess is by no means a cake walk. We feelproud of the Manthan Award team compris-ing of Shahid Ahmad, Neeraj Singh, DevendraSingh Bhadauria, Nidhi Sharma, Pritam Sinha,Md. Niyaz, Puneet Sharma, Ranjit Kumar, andRavi Kanta in spending days and nights dedi-catedly to make the 3 days events a success.

We cannot say that we have succeeded with-out the relentless and untiring inputs of SyedS Kazi in the compilation of this award book.

Like the past years, Shaifali Chikermane'sartistic and designing skills have given thebook its aesthetic appeal and made it visuallyappealing.

Last but not the least; it is very much possiblethat the book may have mistakes or short-comings that the readers will disapprove of.We would request all of you to overlook thoseand bear with our errors. But we have tomention that we have put in very honestefforts to deliver the best possible product.

Thanking you all with utmost sincerity

Regards

Osama Manzar

On behalf of DEF & The Manthan Award Team

I 10 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I ANALYSIS I

Our constant urge to carry forward the objec-tives of the Manthan Award have led DigitalEmpowerment Foundation to facilitate outreachof the Award process to the South Asia levelfrom the year 2008. The objective behind thismove is to facilitate in creating a commonthread of network and cooperation in thedomain of Information CommunicationTechnology and digital content for developmentin the region, a region that shares not only com-mon historical and cultural affinities but other-wise shares many common social and economiclimitations. The result, a bigger and better ICTand digital content fraternity in the region, withnominations from 8 countries, involvement of e-Content innovators and practitioners from acrossSouth Asia including Afghanistan.

It is an established fact that there exist a vastdigital divide between the developed and thedeveloping societies. This divide is equally glar-ing within the developing societies. Thus theICT and digital gaps are both inter and intra.Same is the case in South Asia. Within theregion there are varied interventions in ICT anddigital domain. But what is missing is the chordin most of the cases for learning and sharingfrom each other's interventions and experi-ences. It is here, the outreach of the ManthanAward platform to the South Asia level isexpected to address ICT and digital content fordevelopment gaps in the region in terms ofsharing and learning, in terms of ideas, experi-ences, policy, and institutional matters.

The Manthan Award process is a sincereattempt to give a big push to the issues indigital content for development. For 5 years

now this process have seen both horizontaland vertical expansion in terms of recognition,felicitation and a huge network of over 1000organisations, thus creating a vast network ofManthan Award fraternity. It is firmly believedthat the expansion of this process at SouthAsia level with give a new meaning andimportance to this initiative at practice,administrative and policy level in the domainof ICT and digital content for development inthe region. From now onwards, every countryin the region has a stake in the ManthanAward processes, to churn out the best ICTand digital content practices and innovationsand facilitate in its replication, scaling up andvalue addition to address social and economicgaps for communities.

Here, we would like to express our awe andappreciation for the level of ICT and digitalpractices being attempted and experimentedupon in the region as being revealed in thecountry wise nominations for the ManthanAward South Asia 2008. Of special mention isthe efforts being made in Sri Lanka,Bangladesh and Nepal followed by Pakistan,Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Maldives. We mustsay it was very motivating for us to seeAfghanistan participation in the award processdespite its own social, political and economiclimitations and finally the lone nominee winningan award in its very first instance.

The following is a country specific briefaccount of the trends in ICT and digital con-tent as reflected through the nominations andaward process of the Manthan Award:

@ AfghanistanThe need to spread internet literacy and thattoo in local language in Afghanistan is a needfelt reality. The lone Afghani nomination enti-tled 'Sea Monkey' - font developed in localPashto language is a reflection of this. This isan indication that as English language is notpopular, there is an urgent need to spreadcomputer literacy and the local Pashto lan-guage as a chosen language vehicle tospread ICT and digital content in the countryeven in remote areas.

@ BangladeshA look at the nominations from our EasternNeighbour and the instant comment could be- 'Bangladesh is a country of innovationsdespite constraints'. A testimony to this is thequality of nominations from the coastal coun-try. The nominations spread across categoriesfrom e-education to community broadcastingand livelihood. The impressive point is six outof the 13 nominations from Bangladeshemerging as winners, making the country'ssuccess rate almost 50%.

All might not be winners, but Creative Canvas,Win Corporate and World Net, and Cell Bazaarall drew admiration for their e-content prac-tices. Mention must be made of Cell Bazaar,the practice being lauded for its mall conceptinscribed in the mobile applications for buyingand selling.

Overall, the diverse nominations and winningpractices from Bangladesh is an eye opener to

the fact that ICT and digital content could workwonders in a country like Bangladesh, besot-ted with multiple challenges in social, eco-nomic and political frontiers. This shows thatthe more difficult the living conditions are, thebetter the human mind and efforts get direct-ed towards surmounting the hardships.

@ NepalNepal sent 3 nominations which were in thecategories of Community Broadcasting, E-Localisation and E-Culture and Development.Out of those, Equal Access won in the firstcategory because of its inclusive approach tomake information available wherever the enduser might be staying. The work being doneby the other two nominees is also commend-able. The nominations from Nepal is expect-ed to scale up by next year, once the countrysettles politically and is better positioned touse ICT and digital content innovatively.Otherwise, Nepal desires more of ICT and dig-ital content interventions beyond theCommunity radio networks to have a multi-pronged approach towards technology facili-tated development.

@PakistanPakistan is a country that would require awholesome approach in ICT and digital con-tent practices. The country is still to havequalitative as well as quantitative practices inICT. For Manthan Award there were two nomi-nations from Pakistan in e-health and e-Culture and entertainment. This could be apoint to demonstrate that the country has vastscope to ideate and experiment in ICT and

An analysis from the entries of Manthan Award South Asia 2008

I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I 11 I

digital content practices to address its ownsocial, economic and governance challenges.An integrated approach towards developmentin Pakistan must have technology and digitalinputs as fundamental elements of holisticand all round growth for the communities.

@ Sri lankaThe nominations from Sri Lanka gives aninteresting picture of a country making hardhitting efforts in deployment and usage of ICTand digital content tools and applicationsdespite political and social turmoils at times.The island nation had the maximum number ofnominations with the count of 18. Three ofthese won in different categories. It must bebrought to notice that most of the nomina-tions, as far as their work is concerned, werein some way or the other linked to the ethnicviolence that has engulfed Sri Lanka for longnow. Other issues of development have alsoaffected the ICT and digital content initiatives.The winners, be it Gemidiriya Foundation,Dambadeniya Development FoundationCommunity Radio or Information Accessibiltyfor the Print Disabled, have taken excellent ini-tiative to improve the lives of those in needwith the help of innovative means. The othernominations also deserves praise for its effortsto bridge social, cultural and economic gaps.

@ BhutanAlthough the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutanwas represented with a single e-News nomi-nee, the landlocked country has a long wayto go with more development work and inno-

vative use of technology. Bhutannewsonline isa good effort by Bhutanese citizens in theUSA and yet more needs to be done to facili-tate ICT and digital practices in the HimalayanKingdom to overcome geographical, socialand economic divides.

@MaldivesMaldives is a typical case of a country withlittle ICT and digital practices. There was onlya lone nomination from the Oceanic country.Maldives is a challenging case for the entireICT fraternity as to how to facilitate and con-nect the island country and its citizens intovarious ICT and digital networks and activitiesfor greater intra and inter information andcommunication framework

@ India

India's diversity is equally reflected in its vari-ous ICT and digital content practices. TheManthan Award for four years now have wit-nessed to diverse ICT and content practicesfrom India, the Award so far was India specif-ic. For this year, there were 226 nominationsout of which only 22 nominations were short-listed and considered for recognition, placingthe success rate at roughly 10%. This indi-cates the difficult and quality testing of nom-inations by the e Grand Jury of the ManthanAward. This also reflects the fundamentalpoint that despite numerous ICT and digitalcontent practices, the quality interventionscan only provide the much needed input ingiving out result and impact oriented output.

Long way to goAll ICT and digital content interventions inSouth Asia are nothing but recent trends ofone - two decades in experimenting andexperiencing in old and new technology toolsand applications to meet diverse and multiplechallenges across communities in one of themost underdeveloped regions of the world.The outcomes are equally diverse in terms ofits impact and utility in meeting expectationsof the common man in addressing their day-to-day needs. In this, the role of the public,private and the civil society agencies havebeen active in enabling and facilitating tech-nology tools towards development andempowerment. In all various ICT led develop-ment efforts, the challenges have been equal-ly glaring and hard. The turmoil witnessed isin social, political, cultural and economicdomains all of which have contributed inslowing down various technology approaches.

Despite upheavals and limitations the somany ICT and digital practices in the regiondeserves replication, upscaling and recogni-tion at the end of the day. Despite constraints,the various technology practices across theregion have come handy in providing themuch needed succor for all, especially for thecommon citizens in overcoming their tradi-tional developmental hurdles and see a newhope through a facilitating help from technol-ogy tools, devices and applications.

The Manthan Award process is about takingthese digital efforts forward for larger benefitacross the board. The need to recognize and

felicitate the hard efforts across the regionhave been tried to be fulfilled through thisplatform. This is not only to bring together inone common platform the winners and stake-holders, but also to carry forward the innova-tive works and practices for further replicationand implementation as per need based social,cultural, economic indicators emerging outfrom the countries in the region.

Irrespective of all these, the region as wholehas a long way to go in ideating and imple-menting qualitative and impactful ICT and digitalcontent interventions. What is desperatelyrequired is a multi pronged approach at all lev-els including at policy levels leading to a desir-able and result oriented ICT and digital contentinterventions. On top of this, involving the stake-holders is a must with the needs and voices ofthe communities taking the centre stage indesigning and implementing any ICT and digitalprogramme. It is ultimately the communitieswho really decide on what and how of technolo-gy must determine their fate and needs.

This special publication is thus an effort to bringout all the above, the tales of winners and theirpractices, the voices of practitioners andexperts, the issues and ideas that holds impor-tance in ICT and digital efforts in South Asia.

Hope you all have an interesting and thought-ful reading as well as enjoy the creativity ofICT and digital content for development

With hope,Syed S Kazi and Pritam SinhaDIGITAL EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION

PROF ANIL GUPTA

It is a world brimming with opportunities,and also challenges. We cannot affordto be left behind in making use of infor-mation communication technology for ourprogress. We need to work upon innova-tive ideas for the purpose of workingtowards this end.

I have on various occasions spoken andwritten about few ideas, which I believecan bring tremendous change in the stateof affairs. These include, making use ofthe inherent talents and knowledge of thepoor man, coming up with portals of var-ious kinds, changing the education sys-tem, etc. All my ideas, except one or two,need ICT and digital application to reapfruit.

Let me start by saying that there is hugedigital divide prevalent in our society inurban and rural areas, in the formal andthe informal sector, in the organized andthe unorganized sector, between the liter-ate and the not so literate or uneducated.This disparity is the biggest paradox ofIndia and in entire South Asia. The bigquestion is how to make best use of digi-tal economy, digital technology to empow-er the knowledge and culture rich, buteconomically poor people, so that we canbridge this huge divide.

It is no less an irony that a country likeIndia which claims to be a world leader inIT today and provide services to the top

companies of the world, is unable to pro-vide digital content in the local languagesto address basic education, health, gover-nance and commerce needs. In case ofeducation needs, while computers arereaching, the content is not reaching.

Making best use of ICT &Digital Content Let us not deny the fact that we are yet

to make actual and better use of variousICT tools and applications. When I say ICTI don't mean only the Internet. ICTs alsoinclude the traditional TV / radio setswhich can be best used to reach out tomillions in a rural society like India. Forinstance, in the 1960s, television broughtabout a revolution in our lives with its roleas a countrywide classroom. It was onDoordarshan that lectures on various sub-jects were given. This had proved benefi-cial for schools in various parts of thecountry, especially those teaching under-privileged children. We can also think of asimilar connection with radio.

The sad part is that today, I can't eventhink of even five programmes on radiothat people listen to. There are few pro-grammes meant for children that arebroadcast on Doordarshan. However, theirtimings are not suited to the liking of thechildren. But as far as radio is concerned,I can claim that there are no educationalprogrammes. The content of these pro-grammes, if any, is a separate issue.

Here, I would like to put forward an idea

which I believe can do wonders. The radiocan be used in combination with the tele-phone for the purpose of bringing aboutreal development through delivery of use-ful content. For instance, we can have atoll free number which people can makeuse of to have their issues and problemsaired on radio. The radio can serve as amedium to provide solutions to theseproblems as well as educate the masses.The idea of creating a portal on radio,especially an educational portal on radiothrough telephone is a brilliant idea as permy understanding.

Talking about the issue of making the vastreservoir of knowledge and content oninternet accessible at the grassroots level,a very effective technique can be adopt-ed. We should provide net access to theteachers, who can download the matterand disseminate the knowledge /informa-tion to the students. By paying Rs 4 to Rs10 rupees to an interactive kiosk, a largenumber of people will be benefitted. Yet,still the larger question remains: where isthe content for the school dropouts?

Now that we have a community radio act,I would say that the schools at block levelshould have community radio licence tobe able to broadcast the lessons whichwill be taught by the local teachers inlocal languages. In this manner, thosechildren who are unable to go to schoolfor some reason can get some education.

Cultural enrichment using ICT tools and

I 12 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I POOR AS PROVIDER I

I POOR AS PROVIDER I 13 I

applications is equally important. My idea is to create aportal wherein a social and economic market for culturalcreativity can be promoted. There are so many talentslying idle and obscure in remote areas of our country andthat too diverse content. Why not tap all these through acultural portal. It is very relevant to facilitate the artistsby creating a demand for their work among people wholove art and culture. The proposal is if somebody who isinterested, can either video graph or record their per-formance with the help of a mobile and take down thename and the address of the artist and post it on theportal. This way, anybody who wants to listen to thatmusic or art, irrespective of where he or she is sitting,Munger in Bihar or Champaran will be able to downloadthe performance. If he or she appreciates the art, theydownload a form by paying 1 rupee for it. This moneygoes to the account of the person whose song it is.

Economic empowerment through ICTs is very much pos-sible and has been demonstrated. ICTs can facilitateboth the demand and supply chain of products andservices. One moot point here is how to use the supplychain, which you can download from my webpage onintegrating vertical and horizontal markets. Let's say youwant a particular pickle or want to make a particularvariety of pickle. Sitting in Delhi, you want to get thetaste of that particular dish from another state. So whatyou do is you go to the net, find out the whereabouts ofthe person who makes that dish and place a order onthe net. The order will reach the house, the courieragency will connect with the packaging industry, thepackaging industry will coordinate with the courieragency and, and in 36 hours you will get that dish inyour house from that village. So you are connected tothe supply chain.

Inclusive Human ResourcesThe need to build and upscale the social capital whichincludes the human capital is critical for the growthprocess. And here I see the momentous role of the ICTtools and applications in enabling the same, in buildingand scaling up the social and human capital in diverseareas of interventions.

There is tremendous restructuring going on in the man-ufacturing industry because many large companies arevertically integrated. Outsourcing is now getting to thenext level. This is the age of restructuring. What I amsaying is that if you have 5 machines and I have 4machines, some have 3, others have 5; a pool can becreated for helping industries of the world. You canplace an order for that on this portal, place requisitionand we will our supply chain, organize them and willgive you product, whether we make it from 10 places orone place.

This is decentralizing the process and making use ofsmall workshops. We are trying to give work to lesserknown names. This way, instead of few large companiestaking care of the needs of the world, we create a largenumber of hubs which will be networked to the interna-tional community through digital technology. Let us cre-ate a pool of villagers who are skilled. We have to net-work them, decentralize the opportunities. This way,things can be and will be done through distributed mod-els. Local supply chains will be made and global mar-kets will be created. We want our skills to be engagedwith organizing things on a scale where people will con-tribute their best. Their creativity will be enhanced. Herewe are talking about grassroots to global ,or what Iwould call G2G. You may even call it gLocalisation.

Prof Anil Gupta, IIMA, is Padamshree and Vice Chairperson of National Innovation Foundation. He canbe reached at anilgb@gmail.com

I 14 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I FUNDAMENTALS I

SAM PITRODA

There is a Herculean task before India. The taskis the development of the country. As an Indian, Iwould say that we need to realize how importantit is the role of information communication tech-nology in digital content and digital services asfar as the developmental sector is concerned.India has a huge potential in this field, whichresults from our disparity and diversity, coupledwith our strong heritage in art, culture, music,food, paintings.

This gives us a huge canvas of our own content.If you look back a little, you will realise that wehave created a lot in the last two-three years thatneeds to be documented with the help of digitalmedia. Besides, we have to remember that thecontent has to be about things that really madean impact on the history of India. Whether it isabout our religious places, our poetry, and ourway of life, a lot of content needs to be docu-mented.

Content for decreasing divideWe have to start somewhere. In a country likeIndia, where we have this huge divide betweenthe haves and the haves not, between the urbanand the rural, between educated and uneducated,our efforts have to be directed towards decreasingthe divide. Creating digital content is fundamen-tal to decreasing the divide in a modern day envi-ronment like we are in. So, on one hand the job isto create whole new content and documenting it,followed by targeting the people for whom it ismeant for, and the issue of how will it be deliv-ered. We must remember that this cannot beaccomplished by a single soul. It requires thou-sands and thousands of people.

I believe that the local content which we are cre-ating is short of what may be used as a domesticcontent. I feel the question is how to bring thealready existing digital content into the virtualworld. We probably have more regional contentthan any other country. I am convinced of that.Nowhere will you find such diversity. Multipletribes, multiple races, multiple religions, youname it and we have it. Our local content is veryrich. Be it the Madhubani Paintings, or sometribal art (even art of masks), or tribal languages.All this is real world heritage of our own contentwhich needs to be brought before the massesthrough the virtual medium. Here the process ofdigitization comes into picture.

Reaching out to the last mile I would like to draw your attention towards mobil-isation of the last mile, or reaching out to thatman at the far end or the end of the ladder. Myconcern is that a mechanism to reflect the

accountability of the representatives in a hugedemocracy like India is non-existent. Where isthe platform for the masses to get an answer totheir questions about the manner in which theMPs, MLAs etc are dispensing their duties? Youwon't see even a single Panchayat, MLA or MPportal or website. ICT is hardly used to inform thepeople. None of those in seat of authority areinterested. Also, MPLADS fund does not givescope for the same.

To connect the representatives and those whomthey represent is a rare phenomenon. When Ithink it seems really funny, that I select people, Ielect people, send them to the Parliament, to anAssembly, but they are not accountable. This isunfair. If we start the trend, linking representa-tives with the people, you will suddenly have5000 websites resplendent with the nitty gritties.

If you look at expansion of governance, there ise-governance in India. However, governance isreally not up to the mark in our country, despiteall the money that we have spent on it and keepspending. At least I do not feel satisfied as a citi-zen. I really need to look at 20 processes whichhave contributed to improving services providedto the citizens. Have they really succeeded? Hasit changed our culture of unaccountability? Havewe become open, responsible, accountable andanswerable? If not, then it is e-governance fornamesake and not for real change.

Absence of 'e' in educationComing to education, every school should haveits presence on the web. I need to know myphysics teacher. My question is how many teach-

I FUNDAMENTALS I 15 I

ers are there on the net? What about places ofhigher learning, like IITs and IIMs portals? Everyuniversity should have a portal. All course work,all grades, all admissions, the background of allteachers, all courses, what the teacher teaches,everything should be there on the portal. Theseare institutes of higher learning, so they shouldset the trend. I believe the representatives of thepeople will eventually follow. Not even the socalled progressive institutions have done it.

Active district portals are needed.You need portals for every district. For example, Iam in a district of Balangir where I was born andI need to know about the place, what is the sizeof the district, its demography, how many schoolsare there, the teachers, colleges, business activi-ties of the district and much more. But who isgoing to do it?

Most people do not understand the informationtechnology culture, even the best of intellectuals.It's all about openness, all about accessibility,connectivity, it's all about networking, it's allabout decentralization. I think it requires peopleto be very accessible. If I can talk to you, Ishould be able to talk to a person in Uganda atthe same time. How do I change the way I seethe world today? Today, the entire world is goingthrough a major transformation. The world has tobe made a more local place.

ICT needs to be made much more use of andalso the all new methods we will have to adopt.New economy has to be developed; new skillshave to be developed. Everything today is local-ized, and information bridges the distance.

Value of Information & DigitalContent It is not possible to change the DNA of the wholesystem overnight. People have to understand thevalue of information and digital content, whichthey do not. The digitisation process and docu-mentation of content will in the end effect gener-ations. A lot of work has started taking place.

E-governance is a good way to reach out to peo-ple, to improve access to each. Birth certificateshave to be made available through the internet.Land records should be available on the net. Onone hand you need standardization, and on theother its implementation.

Few Points Vital There are a few points which we need to concen-trate upon while working towards the digitizationprocess, or digital content creation process, ordigital service delivery process. This will push theprocess into a fast forward mode.

Successful e-governance has to be our target.We need to identify the areas where e-gover-nance has to be strengthened, fund them proper-ly through public private partnership, and make itglobal content. The implementation of e-gover-nance has to be at the district level. We mustremember that all these efforts require largeamount of participation from people. We havestarted doing things in our capacity. We haveIndia Water Portal (www.indiawaterportal.org ) inassociation with Arghyam. In energy we have aportal with Teri, in environment with the Centrefor Science and Environment. A health portal iscoming up soon.

We have to move in the right direction. A countryas gifted as India with so much talent onlyrequires the will and effort, and the results willsurely become visible. India has to rise and shinebefore the world.

Sam Pitroda is Chairman of National Knowledge Commission. He can bereached at sam.pitroda@c-sam.com

I 16 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I WINNERS I

CITATION

Community broadcasting is one of thebest tools for empowerment acrossdistance, communities, and educa-tional barriers. DambadeniyaCommunity Radio has done exactlythat by offering services, informationdirectly relevant to the communityincluding information services in liveli-hood, agriculture, weather, veterinary,cattle rearing, fruits and vegetables,and so on. The impact ofDambadeniya Community Radio multi-plies by integrating the contentthrough internet, CDs, DVDs and otherdigital media. The sustainability istaken care of because of widespreadinvolvement of community members.

DESCRIPTION

The income of rural community living on agro/live-stock/craft depends on seasonal rain, raw materials,environment, services and information from the gov-ernment. The rural community is deprived due toexisting communication gaps, poor roads, electricityand potable water that cause heavy losses and lowproductivity in their income generation. To addressthese gaps, Dambadeniya Development Foundation, anon government and non profit organization registeredin 1994 under the social service ministry of Sri Lanka,has initiated a Community Radio programme to meetinformational and communicational gaps of the com-munities. The community radio belongs to and is man-aged by the communities with the objectives ofenhancing efforts of those living in vulnerable areas toraise their voices and fill the information and communi-cation gaps through carrying out group interviews. Thisway the grievances are brought to the notice of thedecision makers with uploaded programmes on theinternet. Recorded CDs are being disseminated at vil-lage gatherings.

ProducerSunil RodrigoAjith KumaraNalini Herath

OrganisationDambadeniya Development Foundation

LocationNoth Western Province, SRI LANKA

Telephone94 733 882280

Emailsusasiri@slt.lk

naleeherath@yahoo.com

Technology/MediumRadio

LanguageSinhalese

COMMUNITY BROADCASTING

Community Broadcasting considers all efforts in the areas of broadcasting services forthe benefit of the social sector

I COMMUNITY BROADCASTING I 17 I

CITATION

Information in this age has becomethe key to growth and access ordenial of access to information greatlyaffects the economic and social con-ditions of any place. Unfortunately, alarge share of the rural population ofNepal are underprivileged and do notpossess basic information on a widenumber of issues. In such a scenarioEqual Access entered into collabora-tion with several partners for develop-ing software and technology for datacasting multimedia to rural sites inNepal using the World Space SatelliteTechnology. Using this technology setup, Equal Access today has been dis-seminating various information mate-rials on health; women's issues suchas domestic violence, rape, girls traf-ficking; Youth issues; HIV/AIDS; andeducation.

DESCRIPTION

Digital Broadcast Initiative, Equal Access Nepal wasestablished as an NGO in Nepal in February 2004. Thisinitiative, that utilized digital satellite broadcasting tech-nology to bring vital development information directly tounder served communities in rural settings, was for-mally launched in Kathmandu on June 24, 2003. Sincethen, Equal Access has continued to implement numer-ous 'communications for development' projects inNepal, with programming on a range of thematic areasincluding education, healthcare, microfinance, sustain-able agriculture, human rights and conflict manage-ment, HIV/AIDS and women's empowerment. EqualAccess projects are designed to reach the broadestpossible audience in culturally appropriate and costeffective ways By April 2008, 100 multimedia siteswere setup by Equal Access Nepal in different ruralparts of the country. More than anything else, Equalaccess's initiative has helped in overcoming the bias ofEnglish associated with Internet.

ProducerPawan Prakash Upreti

Anil GhimireKrishna Guragain

Upendra Aryal

OrganisationEqual Access Nepal

LocationLalitpur, NEPAL

Telephone97 1 5013509

Emailpupreti@equalaccess.org

aghimire@equalaccess.orgkguragain@equalaccess.org

uaryal@equalaccess.org

Technology/MediumSatellite

LanguageNepali

CITATION

A new set of community reporterswithout any previous experience inproduction successfully completing 40episodes of weekly programmes ontheir own is by no means a smallachievement. Despite the fact that thechance for interactivity is less, yet theprogrammes on safe drinking water,primary producer groups and market-ing groups of agricultural intervention,usage of assola as a livestock fodderhave created greater awarenessamong the community members. Thiseffort has been able to introduce con-cepts like a community based, com-munity owned, community drivenradio, something unknown to the peo-ple earlier.

DESCRIPTION

community radio Kalanjiam Samuga Vanoli wasplanned as a part of documenting the various develop-ment interventions that was taking place along thecoast of Nagapattinam district after tsunami; therebycreate awareness among the community on disasterand the coping-up mechanisms for overcoming suchimpacts of disaster. So far, a total of forty weeks ofprogramme were produced and broadcasted. The con-tents are community-oriented and mostly community-driven. All the community reporters are below plus 2qualification, all from poor family back ground. They donot have any experience in any media work but aretrained in audio production and facilitating communityparticipation. The products had created very goodsocial recognition for the station among listeners.

ProducerKalanjiam Samuga Vanoli

T KannanA PorkodiS Meena

P Vetriselvan

OrganisationDHAN Foundation, Madurai

LocationTamil Nadu, INDIA

Telephone91 452 2610794

Emailkalanjiamvanoli@gmail.com

Technology/MediumRadio

LanguageTamil

I 18 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-BUSINESS I

CITATION

Marketing of agriculture produce inthe country is riddled with layersresulting in a long chain that lackstransparency. There is also limitedoption in terms of the buyers withwhom a farmer can work through.SNX attempts to get the Farmers tonegotiate the price for his producewith as few intermediaries as possi-ble, which is also transparent. SNX isthe first spot electronic exchange everin the country, or possibly even out-side. The vision of "One India OneMarket" is possible only because ofthe Internet reach and the ease ofsoftware that enables any with basicintelligence to manage trading onSNX.

DESCRIPTION

Safal National Exchange of India Limited (SNX) is aninitiative of National Dairy Development Board in col-laboration with Multi Commodity Exchange of India(MCX) and Financial Technologies (India) Limited (FTIL).SNX is an electronic spot market which offers trans-parency and guarantees payment and delivery withquality for the benefit of sellers and the large numberof buyers across the country, pursuing a vision of OneIndia One Market. The exchange started operations inDecember 2007 and offers contracts in mango,onion, potato, tomato, grapes and banana which arebeing traded. The exchange has 250 members,including 150 Self Help Groups and FarmerAssociations that connect individual farmers. Theexchange has created an opportunity for farmers, eventhe small ones to get access to national markets.

ProducerMother Dairy, MCX &

Financial Technologies India Limited

OrganisationSafal National Exchange of India Limited

LocationKarnataka, INDIA

Telephone91 80 25053000

Emailravishankar.n@snxindia.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish

CITATION

With the growing mobile penetration,m-commerce is taking shape andconsumers are being tapped for beingserved services including transaction-al. ngPay is one of such start-upwhich has put in faith in the possibilityof integration of mobile, reach, servic-es, payment and transactions, includ-ing ATM like experience. The ngPayuser experience is easy, fast andsecure. The mobile channel offersreach and convenience for completingelectronic transactions that the PChas not been able to match till todaystime. Consumers can complete end-to-end transactions easily and secure-ly from their mobile handset withbusinesses like travel, banking, enter-tainment, shopping, charity etc.

DESCRIPTION

JiGrahak has come up with "ngpay", India's first andfastest growing end-to-end mass market mobile com-merce service. Through ngPay consumers - anywherein India, using entry-level handsets, on any telecomnetwork - can bank, pay bills, book tickets, makedonations, shop, order food, and more - easily andsecurely - from a single place on their mobile hand-sets. Consumers can complete services with 45+ busi-nesses across 9 sectors. Consumers simply down-load a small application into their handset and com-plete a 3 step registration process (takes 1-2 minutes)before using ngPay. During registration, they will selecta unique 6 digit password that is used for all transac-tions. ngPay provides end-to-end multi-level securitythat has been certified by security firms and financialinstitutions. Like an ATM card, users can completetransactions when the password is coupled with thecorresponding handset. If handset is lost, a transactioncannot be completed.

ProducerSourabh Jain

OrganisationJiGrahak Mobility Pvt. Ltd.

LocationKarnataka, INDIA

Telephone91 80 66375400

Emailsourabh.jain@jigrahak.com

Technology/MediumMobile/PDA

LanguageEnglish

E-BUSINESS

Support and optimization of business processes; creation of new business models in e-commerce andm-commerce, business to business, business to consumers, internet security and other areas; support-ing Small and Medium Enterprises in the marketplace

I E-CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT I 19 I

CITATION

The need to recognize grassroots andfarfetched communities, their livingconditions, culture and practices isvery relevant for an inclusive growthand development agenda. With itsefforts directed towards focusing theunreported Bangladesh, Unnayan TVis trying to create space for marginal-ized community, particularly the poor.There is an active involvement ofyoung media professionals and jour-nalists in this technology project mak-ing regular efforts to reach out to theunreached. Despite challenges equallyunrelenting like lack of internet facili-ties, Unnayan TV is reaching out tothe semi-urban and rural user com-munities and making efforts to pro-vide various cultural and entertain-ment programmes to the farfetchedand deprived viewer communities.

DESCRIPTION

Unnayan TV is the first online video channel inBangladesh which regularly publishes video contentson development, human rights, and educational as wellas cultural issues of the country. The non-profit projectis an alternative initiative against the commercialmedia giants. The Bangla word "Unnayan" stands for"Development" i.e. "Development of human life andcivilization". The Unnayan TV project is registered underthe host organisation "Machizo MultimediaOrganisation " by Bangladesh Government as a tradeorganisation. The project makes tremendous use ofmultimedia and web technology to produce and publishlocal content online. Simple online web technology isused for video distribution. News-content is sent andpublished through popular mailing list, blogs and onlineapplications.

ProducerShahjahan Siraj

OrganisationMachizo Multimedia Communication

LocationDhaka, BANGLADESH

Telephone88- 02- 9119846

Emailsiraj@machizo.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish, Bangla

E-CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT

Preserving and presenting cultural heritage in line with the challenges of the future;demonstrating valuable cultural assets clearly and informatively using state-of-the-arttechnology and new media platforms. Supplying digitised entertainment products andservices; entertaining the user in this world’s variety of languages and its cultural diver-sity; supporting movement from one-way to two-way, from single to multiple players,interactive entertainmentband the synergy between analogue and digital platforms.

I 20 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT I

CITATION

Making innovative use of existingtechnology to address developmentareas is a challenging task. And this iswhat NetBetar is attempting to forBangladesh. It has certainly been ableto capture the untapped potential ofthe Internet and turn it into a tool ofdevelopment where Bangladeshisplaced globally can also participate. Ina country where literacy rates are low,it is to be expected that contentsdeveloped for a mass audience wouldbe mostly audio or video, therefore abright future awaits the initiative. Also,with infotainment as a tool, it is sureto be drawing a large audience andinforming them about various issuesthe country faces and convey devel-opmental messages in a format thatwill draw and hold attention, therebygetting across ideas better. The medi-um is not very expensive either.

DESCRIPTION

Music on the Internet isn't new. But using an Internetradio station to address development certainly is.NetBetar is the first online audio channel in Bangla forBangla speaking audience globally. NetBetar as anInternet Radio station serves two goals-to reconnectthe global Bangladeshi to their roots and give them achance to be a part of Bangladesh's development. Themedium is very interactive. Some of the programs have"call to ask" functions where the listeners can call inand have their questions answered. Besides, the chan-nel provides infotainment related matter that will helpall kinds of audiences, whether rural or urban, to getthe best out of the station. Netbetar has plans ofreaching deep rural interiors with the help of its tele-centers.

ProducerSuny Md. Ashraf Khan

OrganisationNetbetar

LocationDhaka, BANGLADESH

Telephone88 01 71648484

Emailinfo@netbetar.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageBangla

CITATION

Tribal groups and aborigine communi-ties are in danger world wide of beingvanishing culturally, linguistically, eco-nomically and politically. Taking a seri-ous note of Jharkhand in India PyaraKerketta Foundation is attemptinghard to protect the culture, languagesand rights of the tribal groups in thestate. By using digital media veryeffectively to achieve the same, PyaraKerketta Foundation is doing a pio-neering job in bringing the indigenouscommunities and their culture, ideas,practices to the forefront. . By devel-oping web portals exclusively for thetribal groups in Jharkhand, PKF isfacilitating online websites to discuss,advocate and popularize the issues oftribal culture at large. This way thepioneering words and deeds of thelate Pyara Kerketta, the great educa-tionist, social reformer, political activistand pioneer in cultural movement, isbeing preserved.

DESCRIPTION

The Tribal community portals developed by the PyaraKerketta Foundation (PKF) is focused on issues relatedto Jharkhand tribal life, population, history, culture, pol-itics and community efforts. The community portals likekharia.in stresses a lot on making the tribal languagesand their rights protected, alive and promoted at alllevels including advocacy and policy. In this theInternet is used very effectively to popularize the cul-ture of the tribals in Jharkhand. Through websites likeKharia.in and at least four more websites, PKF has putin content on the web in the same script as that ofspecific Tribal groups.

ProducerPyara Kerketta Foundation

OrganisationPyara Kerketta Foundation

LocationJharkhand, INDIA

Telephone91 923467 8580

Emailpyarafoundation@rediffmail.com

Technology/MediumBroadband/Online

LanguageEnglish, Hindi, Kharia

I E-EDUCATION I 21 I

E-EDUCATION

Empowering the education paraphernalia with new technology tools; transformingschools, universities and other educational institutions through interactive, personalisedand distributed educational resources; providing infrastructure for the rural based edu-cational institutions, especially schools.

CITATION

There is hardly any example of anyuniversity in India which uses all pos-sible media tools and applications toreach out to those who want to beeducated. IGNOU is an example whichuses print, radio, TV, Web/Internet toreach out to the masses. After havingdeployed various TV channels,EduSat, Community Radio, IGNOU isat task through eGyankosh to utilizedigital media to the best of its possi-bility. Through these multifarious tech-nological interventions, IGNOU is put-ting maximum efforts in extending itsreach beyond the borders of thecountry and facilitate internationalstudents. What is laudable is IGNOU'scontinuous pursuit in providing higherand quality education using digitaltools and technologies and reachingout to the unreached.

DESCRIPTION

Gyandarshan, Gyanvani and Edusat are pioneeringmoves by Indira Gandhi National Open University tobring about notable changes in the age old educationsystem through web casting facilities. GyanDarshan-Iis a satellite based TV channel devoted to educationaland developmental needs of the society. Then there isGyanDarshan-II / Edusat, which is an exclusive educa-tional satellite to provide interactive education usingDVB-RCS technology. It offers distance educationthrough Virtual Class Room mode and provides accessto digital repository of educational content hosted atIGNOU. The GyanVani educational FM Radio networkprovides programmes covering different aspects andlevels of education including Primary and SecondaryEducation, Adult Education, Technical and vocationalEducation, Higher Education and Extension Education.eGyankosh is an exclusive dedicated initiative to digi-tize the entire course curriculum of IGNOU and make itavailable to all.

ProducerProf. Uma Kanjilal

OrganisationIndira Gandhi National Open University

LocationDelhi, INDIA

Telephone91 11 29534336

Emailukanjilal@ignou.ac.in

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish

I 22 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-EDUCATION I

CITATION

Mathematics has been proved to bethe most difficult subject amongschool going children, a fact main-tained in the rural areas too. Mostschool dropouts complain that mathe-matics is an 'unmanageable subject'.'Learn with Fun' programme has beentrying to change this. After a modeststart, 'Learn with Fun' is generatingenthusiasm through interaction builtaround a healthy competition amongthe 14 centres promoting betterlearning and in the process raisingthe bar of confidence among thelearners. Giving a 100 per cent resultin mathematics at most of the centresin the last academic year, 'Learn withFun' is a new found panacea to a tra-ditional learning problem for many.

DESCRIPTION

The aim of 'Learn with fun' Maths programme is toteach basic mathematics concept and its application insolving problems to primary school children (I - V Std)through the satellite. The programme is conductedfrom the expert centre in Bangalore and 16 villagesfrom various parts of Karnataka logging in for 5 days aweek (Monday - Friday).Classes are conducted from 9 to 10am Monday toFriday. Communication is in vernacular language -Kannada. The efforts are directed towards teachingMath not as a subject, but as a fun game. The class isbased on teaching concepts like addition, subtractionbut not calculation of sums. (For eg. teaching the con-cept 'multiplication' as repeated addition and not oth-erwise).

ProducerSumana K Samuk

C Arvind Dr Nandini Mundkur

OrganisationCentre For Child Development & Disabilities

LocationKarnataka, INDIA

Telephone91 9844124930

Emailccdd@airtelmail.in

Technology/MediumSatellite

LanguageKannada

CITATION

Agriculture education for farmers andthe using medium like TV, satellite,telephone, CD/DVDs and Internetclearly indicates that how powerfulthe oral media could be for theempowerment of the likes of farmers.Kissan Krishideepam in Kerela byIndian Institute of InformationTechnology and Management, Keralais doing exactly that. The project aimsat providing 'right information at theright time in the right context' to thefarmers across the entire state ofKerala and is unique in more than oneway. Krishideepam is the first televi-sion program directly produced andtelecast by State AgriculturalDepartment as part of e-governance,and well received by the farmingcommunity in Kerala. The integratedmodel of the project ensures thespeedy aggregation of relevant infor-mation from various sources, and dis-seminate through cross media plat-forms. Also, the project is supportedwith an agri-data center with fullyprofessional management to catervarious information requirements ofthe farming community in Kerala.

DESCRIPTION

Kissan Krishideepam is a weekly agricultural basedinformative television program produced by the IndianInstitute of Information Technology and managementKerala (IIITM-K) targeted at the entire farming commu-nity of Kerala. It forms the forward selective dissemina-tion of dynamic information of value to farmers acrossentire Kerala. The television program is backed by atoll-free telephone call center and the KISSAN-Keralaportal for asynchronous interaction between viewers(farmers) and to get feedback from the viewers. TheKrishideepam program is telecast through satellitechannel (three times per week) and at the end of theprogram, the toll free numbers are being advertised toensure the interaction between the farmers and thescientists. Apart form this, the DVD`s and CDs are alsoavailable for the farmers to view the programme aspart of continuous learning. The contents are highlyinteractive. The video contents are mounted online incollaboration with Google YouTube. The biggest boon isthe toll free call centre (1800-425-1661), from wherefarmers can also take expert advice

ProducerSmt. Tinku Biswal IAS

Dr. K.R. Srivathsan R. Ajith Kumar

OrganisationIndian Institute of Information Technology

andManagement- Kerala (IIITM-K)

LocationKerala, INDIA

Telephone91 471 2700965

Emailajithr@iiitmk.ac.in

Technology/MediumCross Media

LanguageMalayalam

I E-ENTERPRISE & LIVELIHOOD I 23 I

CITATION

Gemidriya Project is all about ICT anddigital content intervention with bot-tom up approach. Uniquely, the com-munity uploads and inform about theirproducts and services and its avail-ability where other peer group accessinformation for their demand to avail-able supplies. Improving the produc-tion and building the skills of the poorwill not translate into higher incomesunless the poor can link to jobs andmarkets for their goods and services.Gemidriya's ITSHED is helping thoserural communities and youths forgethat link by bridging the informationgap that isolates the rural poor ineven the most dynamic economies.

DESCRIPTION

Government of Sri Lanka's Gemidiriya project is aboutempowering the rural poor to take part in their own vil-lage and livelihood development, by helping villagesaccess the Internet for information on services, jobs,and market opportunities; and market their village, itsinfrastructure, labour pool, and products for sale out toa wider audience. It is also known by its brand namecalled ITShed. Once a village has a page on ITS, vil-lagers-often the youth-gather and post informationabout the village, including skills available, job-seekersand products for sale. For instance, a visitor to the ITSmight see that Gemidiriya villages have 13,070 kg ofbrinjals (egg plant) for sale. Clicking on the link letsthem know that the bulk of brinjals are available inBadulla district. Therafter, Badulla Federation can becontacted for details. The success of Gemidiriya projecthas led to an increase in farmer productivity and in thenumber of economic endeavours the poor are under-taking.

ProducerGamini Batuwitage

Rev. Pattiyawela Mahinda

OrganisationGemidiriya Foundation

LocationKottawa, SRI LANKA

Telephone94 115 5314513

Emailgemidiriya@sltnet.lk

revmahinda@itshed.net

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish, Sinhala, Tamil

E-ENTERPRISE AND LIVELIHOOD

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship are the basis of livelihood across the South Asianlandscape. Introduction and integration of Information Communication Technology havecreated new opportunities and added efficiency in livelihood creation. The biggest chal-lenge however is to stress on deliverables, content, and services for the masses. Smallinnovations and proactiveness can make the ICT used as media rather than just tech-nology and enrich the globalisation with local knowledge and wisdom.

I 24 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-ENTERPRISE & LIVELIHOOD I

CITATION

GiveIndia.org has been able to bringabout a social change in terms ofdemand for and supply of contribu-tion. The concept of donation in Indiafaces various challenges because oflack of transparency and corruption.The use of technology-enabled solu-tions and an online model for dona-tions and sharing information allowsthe costs to remain low and ensure atleast 90 per cent of a donor's contri-bution reaches the seeking organiza-tion (as against an average of 60 percent for the NGO sector). The bestpart is that the amount of money thatis donated is a non-issue; it is thecontribution that counts.

DESCRIPTION

GiveIndia.org is a donation platform that allows donorsto support a cause of their choice from a choice ofhundreds of NGOs in India that have been scrutinizedfor transparency and credibility. This way, the GiveIndiawebsite (www.GiveIndia.org) intends to play the role ofa "philanthropy marketplace". The website makes itslisted members (NGOs) to release key financial andoperational details to be shared with investors (donors)who can then make an informed decision on theirsocial investments. Donors are provided with a rangeof convenient payment options to make their donationsand provided with a tax-deduction receipt. In about 3-4months' time, GiveIndia reverts to the donor with afeedback report informing them about how their moneywas utilised.

ProducerGiveIndia.org

OrganisationGiveIndia

LocationMaharashtra, INDIA

Telephone91 22 23894944

Emailtarika@giveindia.org

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish

CITATION

Providing all vital information needs oflocal communities in one compactformat is no less stupendous task in acountry like Bangladesh. The JeeonIKB initiative of D.Net is aimed ataddressing this need, by benefitingthe masses and making use of thelocal language. This has surelyimproved the quality of life of thepoor and underprivileged and helpingin poverty alleviation. JEEON-IKB isproviding information which is notreadily available and it is accessiblethrough internet and CDs. This is oneinstance wherein technology has beendesigned and deployed to reach themarginalized in a way that is popularfor the user citizens and helping inmeeting day-to-day challenges.

DESCRIPTION

JEEON-IKB, subtitled 'Information for Life', have beendeveloped by Development Research Network inBangla language. All critical information related to edu-cation, agriculture, governance, livelihood, scholar-ships, libraries, loans, banking, health and so on areaggregated into a CD. The Jeeon CD reaches all andsundry through various tele-centres, kiosks andthrough internet also. Each CD responds to dailyqueries made by villagers concerning what, where,who and how in the areas of agriculture, healthcare,non-farm economic activities, appropriate technology,healthcare, education, human rights, awareness anddisaster management. Eight thousand entities of datafrom the database have been included in the CDs.

ProducerD.Net

OrganisationD.Net

LocationDhaka, BANGLADESH

Telephone88 02 8156772

Emailinfo@dnet.org.bd

Technology/MediumCD/DVD

LanguageBangla

I E-GOVERNMENT I 25 I

CITATION

In the governance of a country, it isvery important in this age to beinformed about the people who will berunning the country and representingit. Shushashoner Jannoy Nagorik'sVotebd.org does exactly this.Votebd.org tracks all the informationrelated to contesting politicians andmakes it available to people ofBangladesh. This is an effort in thedirection of reducing corruption bymaking use of technology for trans-parency. In the past, even the voterlist was not available to the commonpeople. Shujan made the voter listavailable through this web site.Hopefully, an improvement in thepolitical solution may eventuallyencourage an environment for honest,competent and devoted persons tojoin the politics.

DESCRIPTION

Democracy is a government of the people, for the peo-ple, by the people. But do we have a medium to turnthis theory into a practical reality. The websitewww.votebd.org has been developed for this purpose,to disseminate the personal information of the candi-date who will contest in the local and national electionsamong the voters. Ironically, this effort is happening inBangladesh. The information disseminated are educa-tional qualification, criminal records (present and past),statements of assets and liabilities of candidates anddependents, profession, loan from bank and financialinstitutions, statement of income tax returns, source ofelection expenses, statement of actual election expens-es etc. In addition, about 2,500 news published in theleading national dailies on corruption and criminaliza-tion made by politician, businessmen, government offi-cials and others also posted in this site. It is being reg-ularly updated.

ProducerSyed Ziaul Habib

OrganisationSHUJAN (Shushashoner Jannoy Nagorik)

LocationDhaka, BANGLADESH

Telephone88- 02 -8112622

Emailshujanbdesh@gmail.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageBangla

CITATION

In Chhattisgarh, Government pays morethan 24,000 million Indian rupees inpaddy procurement and spends about20,000 Indian rupees in the form ofsubsidy in Public Distribution System.Because of the huge subsidy involved,complaints of leakages and diversion arecommon. Unified Ration card project isan end to end solution developed andimplemented with primary reason ofchecking diversion and leakage. Thecomputerization is ascertaining whetherthe scheme will be able to benefit about0.75 million farmers and 3.4 millionbelow poverty line families. The wholeprocess has been able to give the citi-zens a platform for their complaints andreceiving information on paddy procure-ment and public distribution through thecall centre with a toll free number(1800-233-3663).

DESCRIPTION

The department of Food & Civil Supplies & ConsumerAffairs of Chhattisgarh Government has computerized theentire food grain supply chain in Chhattisgarh, startingfrom paddy procurement from farmers, its storage, millingand distribution of rice and other commodities to 3.4 mil-lion ration card holders through fair price shops. As a partof this project, 1,532 Paddy procurement centres, 50 stor-age centres, all district offices concerned, 99 CivilSupplies Corporation distribution centres and 35 FoodCorporation of India rice receiving centres have been com-puterized covering six different organizations involved infood grain management . Purchase and issue at paddyprocurement centres including generation of cheques hasalso been computerised. Miller's registration, Agreementwith millers and generation of Delivery Orders etc. arecomputerised. 3.4 million Ration card holders databasehas been prepared. Calculation of monthly allotment toFPS has been automated. Citizen interface web site ishosted to increase the citizen participation in controllingdiversion of PDS commodities.

ProducerDepartment of Food, Civil Supplies and

Consumer Affairs,Government of Chhattisgarh, (ICT Partner-

NIC)

OrganisationDepartment of Food, Civil Supplies and

Consumer Affairs, Government ofChhattisgarh (ICT Partner - NIC)

LocationChhattisgarh, INDIA

Telephone91 -9424206700

Emailsom@nic.in

Technology/MediumBroadband/Online

LanguageHindi

E-GOVERNMENT

Empowering citizens and serving public services clients; fostering quality and efficiencyof information exchange and communication services in governmental and publicadministrative processes; strenghthening participation of citizens in information societydecision making.

I 26 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-HEALTH I

CITATION

Reaching out to masses for health serv-ices has been a great challenge in acountry like India. InformationCommunication Technology and digitalcontent services have shown somepossibilities of remotely reaching to peo-ple with health services and diagnosis,instantly and economically. Web HealthCentre not only allows online medicaland health services but also offer virtualhome for patients and doctors alike torestore their information, record anddatabases for cross referencing. Freefor all makes it more attractive. All itneeds is to reach out to users aggres-sively. The website exceeds 3 millionhits/month and has 40,000 unique visi-tors each month. Approximately700,000 pages are viewed per month.It has a record of completing more than26,000 tele- consultations. Interestingly,WHC usage data spans 16 countries.

DESCRIPTION

Web Health Centre (WHC) is a multi -speciality, multi-Institution participation online consulting facility wheredoctors and patients can access some of the leadingmedical institutions in India for medical advise. WebHealth Centre is a result of CSR effort of TataConsultancy Services. . The objective of WHC is toenable medical professionals to offer telemedicine,online consultation and other healthcare services topeople across geographic barriers through the Internet.This enables doctors and institutions in giving follow-up advice and preventive care to their own patientsand to others seeking medical advice. The WHC portalis free for browsing through general content like healthcalculators, drug information, disease details, etc.However, for online consultation, accessing onlinehealth and medical record storage facility etc., oneneeds to register. The target users of the site are gen-eral users / patients, doctors /medical Institutions andmedical students.

ProducerMonish Chopra

OrganisationTATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD

LocationTamil Nadu, INDIA

Telephone91 44 66164453

Emailsumanth.raman@tcs.com

Technology/MediumBroadband/Online

LanguageEnglish

E-HEALTH

Developing the consumer-centred model of health care where stakeholders collaborate,utilising Information Communication Technology, including internet technologies to man-age health issues as well as the health care system.

CITATION

Healthcare reaches the massesthrough meticulous planning, integrat-ed infrastructure, ICT enablement,government support and passionateconcern for the need of healthcare bythe masses. HMRI has convertedvision into reality. The project address-es the last mile problems involved indelivery of Health Care Services bysupplementing, supporting, and com-plementing the existing Public HealthDelivery Systems, through technology,especially to the rural public. The proj-ect has proved its strength with time.Initially started to provide the healthinformation as a Health InformationHelp Line, with a toll free number nowit has extended to provide varioushealth services in four districts ofAndhra Pradesh.

DESCRIPTION

Health Management and Research Institute (HMRI) pro-vide health care services to 40 million virtual contactsand 40 million physical contacts per annum in thestate of Andhra Pradesh through an Integrated DigitalHealth Platform. There is a Helpline consisting of groupof doctors supported by mobile medical units visitingthe patients. HMRI services include Toll-free doctor oncall, fixed day health services to rural areas, tele-cardi-ology, disease surveillance and hospital and blood bankmanagement systems. The people of Andhra Pradeshin India can dial 104 to access the Health Helpline.After its success in Andhra Pradesh, HMRI is going PanIndia with various government health ministries anddepartments. Even in Andhra Pradesh, HMRI works intandem with state government. HMRI has been initiatedby Satyam Foundation, the Corporate SocialResponsibility arm of Satyam Computer ServicesLimited.

ProducerBalaji Utla

Venu Madhav Chennupati

OrganisationHealth Management and Research Institute

LocationHyderabad, INDIA

Telephone91 40 42409040

Emailbalaji_utla@hmri.in

Technology/MediumTelephone

LanguageEnglish

DESCRIPTION

Recovery Network is meant to be a platform for thosewho are in the process of recovery. Together.weinre-covery.org is not restricted to recovering addicts. It hasuseful information for all those who want to know moreabout addiction and for the professionals working indrug abuse prevention. It is meant to help people inrecovery become productive members of society and toreclaim their rightful place in society. The effort isaimed at addressing a gap in the whole recovery of theperson and to enable successfully recovering people tohelp their fellow recovering addicts. We in Recovery isa kind of online social network where one could findways and means to understand how recovery happensand how to integrate with normal society.

I E-HEALTH I 27 I

CITATION

Being addicted is a painful experi-ence. And if you have recovered frombeing an addict and want to recoverand integrate with your neighbouringsociety, it is like a stringent effort.However, 'We in Recovery' is a socialnetworking site of a different kind. It isan initiative in the field of helpingpeople who are on path of recovery. Itis an effort in providing a formal setup which helps people recoveringfrom addiction to find support in theirreintegration into society throughissues like employment etc.

ProducerMs. Meira Kumar

Sunil KumarC Saraswati

Arbind PrasadSatyendra Prakash

Anita Jasani

OrganisationNational Institute of Social Defence

LocationDelhi, INDIA

Telephone91 11 26106325

Emailinfo@nisd.gov.in

arbind_prasad@hotmail.comsatyen1963@gmail.com

min-sje@sb.nic.inanita.taheer@gmail.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish

CITATION

It is often seen that basic ICT toolswith very passionate human interfacecreates much deeper impact thanpurely automating processes with hitech ICT tools. ''ProjectHigh>>>Ways " is an example of rig-orous involvement of a woman usingbasic ICT tools like email, web, sms,LCD projectors, PPTs, CommunityMikes , to create awareness aboutBreast, Cervix and Oral Cancer. In''Project Highways", Captain RituJoseph and her daughter, TistaJoseph, have driven more than30,000 kms across India, reachingout to 42,700 people. This is an effortof a woman soldier, who has facedcancer herself, which is a brilliantexample of the innovative use of vari-ous ICT tools to spread awarenessabout cancer.

DESCRIPTION

The disease of cancer always rings the death bell inour minds. Cancer Project ''HIGH>>>WAYS" was con-ceptualized with a mission to create advocacy andawareness on Breast, Cervix and Oral Cancer byreaching out to the Hard-to-reach places. This endeav-our of a cancer survivor and her teenage daughter hasbeen successfully blending adventure sports with can-cer awareness mission across the country. Themethodology is to make use of different ICT tools forenlightening the people about cancer. It was started in2006 with a solo drive of 30,220 kms in 177 days tothe 4 tips of India, and across the highest motorablemountain passes in the world -KhardungLa and TanglaLa, in Ladakh, the first two highest motorable roads inthe world. 140 cancer awareness programmes reach-ing out to more than 26,000 people were conducted.Milestone 2008 is about shaping of foundation"HIGH>>>WAYS…INFINITE" - a public trust to under-take campaigns on multiple health issues like Cancer,AIDS, T.B., Tobacco and environment related healthissues.

ProducerDr.[Capt] Ritu Biyani - Joseph

Miss Tista Joseph

OrganisationHIGH>>>WAYS…INFINITE

LocationMaharashtra, INDIA

Telephone91 9881232744

Emailmissionhighways@gmail.com

rituteesta@gmail.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish, Hindi, Marathi

I 28 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-INCLUSION I

E-INCLUSION

All measures supporting Information Communication Technology integration of leastdeveloped regions of South Asia into the Information Society. Reducing the ‘digitaldivide’ and ‘content gap’ between technology-empowered and technology-excludedcommunities and groups — such as rural areas and women. Bridging society throughmultimedia and rich content.

CITATION

Current designs of computer inter-faces are either unsuitable or exceed-ingly expensive for persons with phys-ical challenges. By modifying theaction/result behaviour of a gamewheel, the Arpit's Wheel provides theuser with an intuitive and friendlyinterface device. It is Open Sourceand completely software based. Usinggame hardware ensures that the priceof the associated device will not beraised in future just because itaddresses the disabilities market.Arpit's Wheel is an off-the-shelf inex-pensive device with familiar and use-ful form factor. By offering a pathaway from traditional form factors, itopens possibilities for more appropri-ate form factor and functionally suit-able alternatives to the mouse/key-board.

DESCRIPTION

"Arpit's Wheel" is named after the physically chal-lenged person called ARPIT. First time when Arpit gothis hands on ''Ruby on Rails" demonstration, he wrotehis first line: ''I am Arpit." Since then Radiophonyworked on developing application for using standardinexpensive joystick/wheel as input devices for severephysically challenged persons. Large size of wheelenables easier handling by persons for whom motorcontrol is a major issue. Arpit's Wheel gives personswith physical motor control issues access to computersand game players.

ProducerArun Mehta

ArpitVickram Crishna

OrganisationRadiophony

LocationDelhi, INDIA

Telephone91 11 29817007

Emailamehta@radiophony.com

vvcrishna@radiophony.com

Technology/MediumOffline

LanguageEnglish

CITATION

Information accessibility is the key tototal integration of the print-disabledinto mainstream society. Braille bookproduction has been an expensive,time-consuming and labour-intensiveprocess. Cassette books, on the otherhand, have inherent shortcomings.Information on Accessibility for PrintDisabled project has been trying itsbest to meet the specific needs of SriLanka's print disabled community. It ishere that Digital Talking Books (DTBs)hold special importance. The TalkingBooks are being produced in Sinhala,Tamil and English, the three predomi-nant languages of the country. Whatis unique is whereas in other Asiancountries the concentration is mainlyon school textbooks and leisure read-ing, in this case an equal preferenceis being given to the reading needs ofuniversity students and other profes-sional people.

DESCRIPTION

The Information on Accessibility for Print Disabled proj-ect seeks to remedy the lack of accessibility to infor-mation by the print disabled, through the productionand dissemination of digital talking books and provisionof instruction and training in ICT. The project wasdeveloped by the DAISY Lanka Foundation (DLF), whichis working towards inclusion and integration of peoplewith print disabilities in to mainstream society, by theprovision of information in alternative accessible for-mats. The need for this project stems from the acutedearth of reading-matter for the print-disabled commu-nity of Sri Lanka. At its conclusion, it is anticipated thatthe consortium will have a sizable collection of DAISYbooks, a website for the print disabled, the necessaryand general hardware and software for the productionof the books, and a well-trained and qualified technicalstaff to ensure continuation of the project.

ProducerAnthony J. Bernard

Prof. D.P.M. Weerakkody

OrganisationThe DAISY Lanka Foundation (DLF)

LocationWestern Province, SRI LANKA

Telephone94 11 2981349

Emailpar-avion@sltnet.lkdpmw@pdn.ac.lk

Technology/MediumCD/DVD

LanguageSinhala, Tamil and English

I E-LEARNING I 29 I

CITATION

The Planning commission reportstates that India needs 700,000 qual-ified doctors & 10, 00,000 nurses -mostly in rural areas. Also, there is anacute shortage of medical teachers inmost medical subjects - not manywant to opt for teaching as a careerand instead concentrate on privatepractice. MEdRC directly targets thesehuge untapped masses with digitalhealthcare educational content.MEdRC's Health Care and Medicalrepository are created by a set of"dream faculty" - the "Who's Who" ofmedical education in India andabroad. The repository has been ableto create a healthcare knowledgeinfrastructure to transform the wayhealth and medical education is deliv-ered in India.

DESCRIPTION

MEdRC EduTech is about digital healthcare education,aligning with the national requirement of 700,000qualified doctors & 10, 00,000 nurses. It has built aninnovative repository of re purpose able multimediarich learning objects with lectures delivered by eminentmedical teachers across the nation, which wouldenable flexible and easy retrieval, customisation, recon-figuration, sharing of existing learning and teachingresources from different sources (universities), adopt-able to a wide range of delivery methods. The teach-ers are invited to MEdRC's multimedia studios forrecording their expert knowledge into e-lectures. Thelectures are captured on video and subsequentlyenhanced by adding multimedia elements in the formof slides, graphics, illustrations, 2D and 3D animation,etc. MEdRC's digital courseware for the medicalstream is designed as per the Medical Council of India(MCI) curriculum and is approved by MCI.

ProducerDr. Neeraj Raj (Founder)

OrganisationMEdRC EduTech

LocationAndhra Pradesh, INDIA

Telephone91 40 23316223

Emaildoc@medrcedutech.com

Technology/MediumBroadband/Online

LanguageEnglish

CITATION

William Ward says "The mediocreteacher tells. The good teacherexplains. The superior teacher demon-strates." With the same belief, eduritehas formulated a way to add new lifeto the mundane teaching methods inour education system - and that tooby adding a plug-in in the pervasivePower Point tool of MS Office. It iscalled DigitAlly. It provides a facility forthe faculty to customise their ownschedules or flow of teaching, byselecting relevant modules from therepository. It is an open applicationwhich allows the teachers to addmore content to the repository.DigitAlly is an example of ICT usage inhelping students to understand diffi-cult and key concepts better, fasterand also helps in retention of thesame for a longer period of time.

DESCRIPTION

Developed by Edurite Technology, DigitAlly is designedto assist the teaching community in adding multimediaobjects to their teaching slides, thus empowering stu-dents with multimedia rich learning objects creating aclassroom experience. The product is bundled with ahuge off-line library of learning media objects andapplication is tightly integrated with MS PowerPoint foreasy usage. Animations, Videos and Diagrams are thethree main categories of media objects bundled in thisversion of product. The other features of DigitAlly are toprovide users i.e. teachers and faculty, a way to searchfor, view multimedia learning objects and add hyper-links to their presentation slides pointing to the select-ed multimedia resource. DigitAlly gets added to the MSPowerPoint menu bar during the PowerPoint startup.Application can run from a click on DigitAlly menu barwhich makes it easy to use interface for selection ofmedia objects. Collections and search are the twooptions provided to discover specific media objects.Add new, modify & delete features enhance additionalusability of the product.

ProducerSrikanth Iyer

OrganisationEdurite Technologies Pvt. Ltd

LocationKarnataka, INDIA

Telephone91 80 26723769

Emailsrikanth@edurite.com

Technology/MediumOffline

LanguageEnglish

E-LEARNING

Serving the needs of the learner to acquire knowledge and skills for a complex andglobalising world; creating active e-learning communities and target models and solu-tions for training, supporting first steps in multimedia for better learning societies.

I 30 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-LOCALISATION I

CITATION

Among many local language basedsociety, Bangla is one of the mostspoken languages especially inBangladesh. And the lack of availabili-ty of Bangla based operating system,which could be free to use, becamebiggest barrier to create and accessthe digital tool for content. Ankur ICTFoundation's efforts to createHoimonti have totally converted Linux-based OS Ubuntu in Bangla and it hasgot popularized across Bangladesh.This has not only facilitated a form ofBangla based operating system butalso contributed towards bridging dig-ital barriers in the form of providingBangla content for daily use.

DESCRIPTION

Hoimonti is a first of its kind technical endeavour inBangladesh, where a Linux based free operating sys-tem called Ubuntu has been developed. The operatingsystem is in Bangla. Hoimonti has a Bengali "installa-tion procedure" along with configuration documenta-tion. After installation, the default username is set to"Ankur" with the same password. So far Ankur ICTFoundation has released customized BanglaOperation System based on Linux so that the peoplecan get used to know about Bengali localised soft-wares through Hoimonti.

ProducerKhandakar Mujahidul Islam

OrganisationAnkur ICT Foundatiuon, Bangladesh

LocationTangail, BANGLADESH

Telephone88 191 5825911

Emailsuzan@ankur.org.bd

Technology/MediumOffline

LanguageBangla

E-LOCALISATION

Interventions of ICT has been instrumental in empowering life at grassroots level inmany ways such as application in local languages, vernacular content and digital toolsto work in oral medium. Agriculture, eco-tourism, ayurveda, artisans skills, organicfood, are all being strenghthened by the electronic and digital technologies as theymove towards localisation.

I E-LOCALISATION I 31 I

CITATION

The need for localization is becomingalmost mandatory and various effortsare making ICT tools, especially com-puters work across all languages.Provision for typing in local languagein ICT tools and applications is onesuch need. And this is what Lipikaaris attempting to provide by selecting16 out of total 22 official Indian lan-guages in devising a methodology toenable typing in those languages. Theuniqueness of Lipikaar is it workswith the same English keyboard with-out being fluent in English acrosspopular browsers like Mozilla Firefoxand Internet Explorer. In Lipikaar thetyping method is unambiguous andefficient, making it very easy andenjoyable to type out stories, articlesand documents in your chosen lan-guage. Adding value, Lipikaar alsoserves as a key component in enter-prise applications, remote banking,and financial services.

DESCRIPTION

Lipikaar is a method to enable typing in 16 languageswith an ordinary keyboard for the PC and on theInternet. The languages it supports include Hindi,Marathi, Sanskrit, Nepali, Kashmiri, Konkani, Sindhi,Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,Malayalam, Urdu and Arabic. Lipikaar is currently avail-able for the Microsoft Windows Desktop and allWindows Applications, Mozilla Firefox browser and foruse with Internet or web applications. Lipikaar is alsoavailable in an embedded or hardware form allowingyou to use the ordinary keyboard for regional lan-guages with various hardware products. The typingmethod is intuitive and effortless to learn and is asclose as possible to writing in a regional language.

ProducerAnjali Gupta

OrganisationBookEazy Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

LocationMaharashtra, INDIA

Telephone91 20 25663548

EmailAnjali@lipikaar.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageSupports 16 languages Hindi, Marathi,

Sanskrit, etc

CITATION

For a country like Afghanistan this ismanna from heaven. Sea Monkey iscommunity based effort to create all-in-internet suite in Pashto language.Sea Monkey can use Mozilla browser,email, newsgroup client, HTML Editor,IRC Chat, and web development tools- all in Pashto language. This projectremoves the digital gap and contentgap because it removes the main bar-rier to digital world, the EnglishLanguage. People will no longer needto learn English Language becausethey can now see their native lan-guage on their desktops. Through SeaMonkey project Afghanistan canleapfrog beyond digital divide andavail the digital opportunity to a greatextent.

DESCRIPTION

Sea Monkey is a project of developing all-in-one inter-net suite in Pashto language. The AfghanistanComputer Science Association has been developingSea Monkey in Pashto language as a community effortfor quite some time. Such a software suite was previ-ously made popular by Netscape and Mozilla, and theSeaMonkey project continues to develop and deliverhigh-quality updates to this concept. Containing anInternet browser, email & newsgroup client, HTML edi-tor, IRC chat and web development tools, SeaMonkeyappeals to advanced users, web developers and corpo-rate users as far as Pashto language is concerned. ForAfghanistan, Sea Monkey is one effort which can reachout to the entire country for accessing internet andavail digital media.

ProducerRafiqullah Kakar

Habibur Rahman GhaznaweSharifullah Mahboob

OrganisationAfghanistan Computer Science Association

LocationKabul, AFGHANISTAN

Telephone93 799 890933

Emailrafiqullah.kakar@acsa.org.afhabib.ghaznawe@acsa.org.af

Sharifullah.mahboob@acsa.org.af

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguagePashto

I 32 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I E-NEWS I

CITATION

Lack of information on scope of develop-ment is one of the reasons for underdevel-opment of the third world. A vast chunk ofrural population has been out of domain ofcommercial interest of media houses. ThePratibadh initiative is trying to change thescenario. It is simply a thick broadsheetbased wall newspaper since 1996 reach-ing 40,000 villages in three states of Bihar,Punjab and Haryana through its network of600 rural reporters. Lately, Pratibadh hasenabled all its reporters with ICT trainingand tools for not only collecting informationnews and reports but also use ICT toolslike Emails, PDF, LCD projectors, PPTs toreach out to rural masses in groups andcommunities. Wiith the introduction ofsome more business modules like RuralCommunication, Rural Research and RuralMarket Pratibadh is now growing fast.

DESCRIPTION

As a development newspaper targeting ruraland low literate with their participation, thisproduct is a very progressive effort. For thisover 600 Rural Communicators cum RuralReporters have been identified. They are build-ing their capacity to be interface between ICTrevolution and rural India. The developmentnewspaper, published fortnightly, is pasted onthe walls of milk cooperatives and Panchayatbuildings in three states, covering around40,000 villages. This community newspaperuses the strong network of milk cooperativesto ensure that it reaches villages. It has beeninfluencing the lives of over 600,000 milkcooperative farmers. It is perfect two waychannel. The van that delivers the newspaperis also used by farmer to send feedback.

ProducerAnupam Shrivastav

OrganisationICON COMMUNICATIONS

LocationDelhi, INDIA

Telephone93 11 26166402

Emailshrivastavanupam@gmail.com

Technology/MediumCross Media

LanguageHindi and Punjabi

E-NEWS

The expansion of traditional media into new media and leveraging the technology as medium to reachlarger masses, offering content in local language and in all form of electronic and digital medium.

CITATION

With dismally low levels of literacyand large scale poverty amongst tribalpopulations in Chhattisgarh, TV ornewspaper can not be "their own"media. But with their strong oral tradi-tions communities could be trained inthe usage of oral media like radio,internet and audio-visual. CGNet hasadopted the model of community jour-nalism and citizen journalism wherethe issues discussed and covered aremostly developmental. So far theinterface is web, email, discussiongroup, but gradually moving towardsclaiming license for community radio.Efforts towards giving an ear to thegrievances of tribal, who are increas-ingly turning to Maoists is a verythoughtful step in the direction ofprogress. Development cannot hap-pen until each strata of the country isbrought into its fold, and CGNet isworking towards that end.

DESCRIPTION

CGnet is a Citizen Journalism platform where the sub-ject is that of development of Chhattisgarh, and itspeople, who are discussed and then acted upon. Thebelief is that everyone is a journalist and ICT can helpleapfrog many hurdles in the way. It is an effort to starta dialogue between tribal and others with the help ofICT. CGNet is also making all effort for the communitiesfor have their own Community Radio. CGNet is also an''E Gram Panchayat of the people of Chhattisgarh''. Itis also a library and reference point. Here people raisetheir issues with the help of ICT and discuss debateand act on it. Some literate tribal have been trained onthe use of computers, in Hindi, which can be used forwriting in the local languages.

ProducerShubhranshu Choudhary (Freelance

Journalist) Organisation

CGnet

LocationChhattisgarh, INDIA

Telephone91 9811066749

Emailcgnet@cgnet.in

Technology/MediumEmail/e-Groups

LanguageHindi, English, Chhattisgrahi, Gondi

Url: www.cgnet.in

I E-SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT I 33 I

CITATION

So far knowledge about water in Indiaexisted in silos of universities, govern-mental and non-governmental organi-zations. Traditional knowledge andunderstanding around water were inserious threat. The launch of the IndiaWater Portal has come as a timelyresource centre in providing holisticinformation and content base onwater and various issues. Reachingout to a visitor base of around 600each day and 18000 visits a month,the commitment of the Water Portalto reduce both the digital and thecontent asymmetry prevalent in Indiacan be validated from their emphasison "language portals", "multimediacourses" and the "Kannada Radioshows". With multilingual options, theIndia Water Portal hopes to createeffective advocacy and awarenessregarding water related issues amonggeneral masses in order to achievesolutions for water woes.

DESCRIPTION

Water is a scarce commodity today and serious effortsare required towards its consumption. In such a sce-nario, The India Water Portal(www.indiawaterportal.org) , which is a rich onlineresource base and a virtual community on water, is amove towards creating one window knowledge houseon water issues. An idea that was mooted by theNational Knowledge Commission (http://knowl-edgecommission.gov.in/), the Water Portal waslaunched officially in January 2007. It is a completelyfree and open platform, for the dissemination of infor-mation and knowledge and discussion and debate onwater issues. The India Water Portal consists of casestudies, movies, slideshows and courses based on thework done by partner organizations on various domainsof water e.g. groundwater, rainwater harvesting, waterquality, urban water. After English, India Water Portal isready to launch its Hindi version.

ProducerArghyam

OrganisationArghyam

LocationKarnataka, INDIA

Telephone91 80 41698941

Emailinfo@arghyam.org

Technology/MediumCross Media

LanguageEnglish, Kannada

Url: www.indiawaterportal.org

E-SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

The spread of all the concerns is of high importance as far as science and environmentare concerned. Scientific projects articulated through new media. Especially withemerging globalisation, environment is being affected badly and it requires all kinds oftechnology and medium to spread the right message about devastaion etc it can cre-ate. ICT palys a huge role in responsible dissemination of information about scienceand environment; content matters.

I 34 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I M-CONTENT I

CITATION

In highly populated South Asian coun-tries, interestingly, mobile is reachingout to more people than any other ICTtools. Creating bazaar on mobiles andoffering transaction services on cellu-lar network could be a great leveler ifthe content, services and transactionsare seamless and painless. CellBazaar in Bangladesh seems to havebeen succeeded in providing buyersand sellers market place on mobiles.CellBazaar provides a birds-eye viewof the entire market for sellers andbuyers. Those lacking capital forbrick-and-mortar structures learnabout CellBazaar through word-of-mouth networks and then set up shopon mobile phones. This allows them tobypass the middlemen, weakens thepower of syndicates, and pushes themarket towards efficient prices. Byenabling micro-market makers, thisservice empowers small businesses.

DESCRIPTION

It is truly a cell bazaar at your service fromBangladesh. The service allows buyers and sellers tomeet in a mobile marketplace. Sellers post items, buy-ers view them, and contact sellers. Nearly more than20 million users can access this service to buy anyagricultural product, such as rice, fish, chicken, as wellas large scale purchases like apartment, land, car, andconsumer goods such as TV, fridge, etc. People canalso offer services such as tutoring, repair, video, etc.CellBazaar brings the buyer and seller to point of trans-action. At the final stages, buyer speaks to seller,agrees on terms, and meets them in person to transfercash and take delivery of the good. When mobile pay-ment is integrated into the system, buyer can completethe entire transaction from the mobile.

ProducerKamal S. Quadir

Grameenphone CIC

OrganisationCellBazaar

LocationDhaka, BANGLADESH

Telephone88 171 3049386

Emailkamal@cellbazaar.com

sreza@grameenphone.com

Technology/MediumWireless/WAP

LanguageEnglish & Bengali & Visual GUI

Url: corp.cellbazaar.com

M-CONTENT

Mobile has become the most powerful medium for the exchange of content, servicesand building communities. With the high penetration of mobile devices, content andservices are becoming essentials in mobile devices

I JURORS’ DISTINCTION I 35 I

CITATION

In the new economy scenario, where the domination ofcontrol and competition are based on innovation, knowl-edge, and intellectual property, an innovative project hastaken shape on the web as a trading portal, and thedomain is trading in intellectual property. It is calledIPsupermarket.com. The portal bridges the Gap betweenIP trading, and target audience is companies across:Semiconductor, Embedded application, IT, Telecom,Media, Mobile and Wireless communication. By extend-ing its services at national and international level,IPsupermarket.com is a pioneering effort in facilitatingtrade in Software Intellectual Properties (IPs) by allowingindividuals, companies or business to buy/sell or licensevarious kind of software codecs and much more! Withthis, there is a large scope of improvement and theendeavour is moving towards becoming the top IP trad-ing portal across the World providing quality outreachand services.

DESCRIPTION

IPsupermarket.com provides a uniqueplatform for Technology Companiesand Individuals to trade variousSoftware Intellectual Properties (IPs) .It is an IP trading portal which pro-vides a platform for technologyCompanies to buy, sell or license vari-ous IPs; who are operating in Semi-conductor, Embedded application, IT,Telecom, Media, Mobile and Wirelesscommunication. IPsupermarket.com isa part Embitel. IPsupermarket.com isa 1st Indian portal which provides IPtrading. Being a niche, it also servesvery niche audiences of top manage-ment of IT and software companies.

ProducerHiren Parikh

Sharad Bairathi

OrganisationIPsupermarket

LocationKarnataka, INDIA

Telephone91 80 4694200

Emailhiren.parikh@ipsupermarket.com

sharad@ipsupermarket.com

Technology/MediumWeb/Internet

LanguageEnglish

Url: www.ipsupermarket.com

JURORS' DISTINCTION AWARD FORINNOVATION

Special distinctions for outstanding strategic value for the development of the information society, throughinnovative methods, were the criteria for the selection of these two products.

DESCRIPTION

VoiKiosk is like voice-based information kiosk or voicebased portal. VoiKiosk is designed and developed byIBM Research to reach out to masses based on oralcommunication, which is the forte of country like India.Voikiosks are a central point of access for a communitywhere information relevant to the community can beposted and accessed directly by the users themselves.This solution doesn't rely on internet connectivity. Itallows end users to directly interact with the servicesremoving the dependence on the kiosk operator.VoiKiosk is a voice based service available on theTelecom network and based on World Wide TelecomWeb technology. In partnership with ByrrajuFoundation, a kiosk template of this kind was deployedfor a group of villages in Andhra Pradesh. A local vil-lage resident is primarily responsible for uploadingcontent and maintaining this VoiKiosk as a KioskOperator. Together with Byrraju Foundation, IBMResearch is working on field testing and consolidatingthe viability of VoiKiosk to take it to masses gradually

CITATION

Most of the South Asia countries likeIndia are oral in communication andthus availing any content and servicesin written becomes subject to literacyand education, which deprives largerpart of the society. To overcome suchsituations, the IBM Research productin partnership with ByrrajuFoundation, VoiKiosk, is a voice-based portal or voice based toll-freeinteractive information kiosk. Theunique feature of Voikiosk is unlikeconventional info kiosks which arebased on hearing infrastructure, elec-tricity, computers and toned to travellong distances to avail the services,VoiKiosk is telephone based kioskwhich not only allows series of servic-es but also allows feeding of contentand services. After the success of itsfield testing in Andhra Pradesh,Voikiosk iosk looks like the final fron-tier of reaching out to the rural mass-es.

ProducerIBM India Research Lab. & Byrraju

FoundationSheetal K. Agarwal

Arun KumarAmit Nanavati

Nitendra Rajput

OrganisationIBM India Pvt. Ltd. , Byrraju Foundation

LocationDelhi / Hyderabad, INDIA

Telephone91 11 66192100

Emailkkarun@in.ibm.com

sheetaga@in.ibm.comkkarun@in.ibm.comnamit@in.ibm.com

rnitendra@in.ibm.com

Technology/MediumTelephone

LanguageMultilingual

Url: www.research.ibm.com/irl

I 36 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I EMERGING STATE I

Jharkhand is one of the newest states. Dominated by tribalcommunities surrounded by hills, ridges and plateaus,Jharkhand is always known for its poverty, under-developmentand political crisis amidst very high natural resource base.Making an effort and creating a success story in Jharkhand isalways a Herculean task. Yet, in the last few years, the ITdepartment of Jharkhand has relentlessly achieved ICT integra-tion in all strata of life.

The State of Jharkhand was among the first in implementingSWAN (State Wide Area Network); first to roll out CommonService Centres; and one of the first to automate entire regis-tration process. The credit goes to the State IT Department totake challenging steps in automation of the entire State treas-ury and is on the way to integrate entire state with GeographicInformation System (GIS). The State IT wing is also credited tofacilitate using of the Radio set for education across govern-ment schools. The surprising initiative is the full fledged PrisonInformation system (PIS) that has helped to put every thing digi-tally including trial through video conferencing. Last but not theleast is the pro-activeness of the IT officials and resource per-sons of Jharkhand in having an open minded framework thathas given the State of Jharkhand an edge over other states onmany parameters within a small time frame. The hosting of theManthan Award South Asia Grand Jury 2008 could be a liveinstance for immediate reference.

SPECIAL APPRECIATION AWARD FOR AN EMERGING STATE

I GRAND JURY I 37 I

Osama ManzarChairman, The Manthan Award

Ashish GargGlobal e Schools and Communities Initiative (IndiaHead)

Lekha Kumar Director, Department of Administrative Reforms &Public Grievances, India.

Vinnie Mehta Executive Director, Manufacturer's Association forInformation Technology (MAIT), India.

Amol Goje Director, Vidya Pratisthan's Institute of InformationTechnology, Baramati, India

Ramesh Kumar Executive Director, Beltron, Bihar, India

Peeyush Bajpai Director, Raftaar.com, India

Prof G Sahoo Head of Computer Science Department, Birla Instituteof Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India

Mansoor Ahmad Mansoor Ahmad, an education specialist, is betterknown in Bihar and Jharkhand as quiz master.

Satish KaushalCountry Head, Governance, IBM, India

Shubhendru ParthEditor, i-Government, India

Munir HasanGeneral Secretary, Bangladesh Open Source Network(BdOSN

Navin AgrawalExecutive Director - Advisory Services, KPMG, India

Sajan VenniyoorPrasar Bharti, Broadcating Corporation of India

Rajen VaradaResourse person for UN Solution Exchange, NewDelhi

Manas ChakrabartiInstructional Designer Specialist, India

SN GoswamiCEO & Managing Director of Media Lab Asia, NewDelhi, India

Dr. Amir Ullah KhanDirector, India Development Foundation, Gurgaon,India

THE GRAND JURY

I 38 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I ORGANISERS & PARTNERS I

http://www.defindia.net/http://www.wsis-award.org/http://www.mit.gov.in/http://www.livemint.com

http://www.bnnrc.net/

http://www.dnet-bangladesh.orgl

DEFWorld Summit Award

Centre for e-GovernanceMint

BNNRC (Bangladesh NGOs Network forRadio and Communication)

D.Net (Developement ResearchNetwork)

http://www.mcit.gov.af/Ministry of Communications andInformation Technology

ORGANISERS

COUNTRY PARTNERS

http://nagaland.nic.in/http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/http://lakshadweep.nic.in/http://jharkhand.nic.in/

Govt. of Nagaland Govt. of Maharashtra

Administration of U T of LakshadweepGovt. of Jharkhand

STATE PARTNERS

http://www.edurite.com/http://www.ibm.com/in/http://www.intel.com/http://www.designmate.com/http://www.coreprojectstech.com/http://www.ignou.ac.in/

EduriteIBMIntel

Designmate CORE

IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity)

PRINCIPLE PARTNERS

Bangladesh

Afghanistan

http://www.fitnepal.org.np/FIT Nepal(Forum for InformationTechnology, Nepal)

Nepal

http://www.fpcci.com.pk/FPPCI (The Federation of PakistanChambers of Commerce & Industry)

Pakistan

://www.yatv.net/http://www.icta.lk

YATV (Young Asia Television)ICTA (ideas actioned)

Sri Lanka

I PARTNERS I 39 I

http://cemca.org/http://www.farmerp.com/http://portal.unesco.org/http://www.iamai.in/

http://www.microgis.net/http://www.nos.org/http://www.schoolnetindia.com/

http://www.aarogya.com/http://www.smarteach.com/medrc/default.htmlhttp://www.arghyam.org/

COL (Commonwealth of Learning) Farm ERP

UNESCO IAMAI (Internet & Mobile Association of

India) Micro Associates

NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) IL&FS ETS (Infrastructure Leasing &

Financial Services - Education TechnologyServices)

Arogya.com MEdRC

Arghyam

ASSOCIATE PARTNERS

http://www.nisg.org/http://www.kpmg.com/Global/Pages/default.aspxhttp://www.nasscomfoundation.org/index.phphttp://www.milagrow.in/http://www.dishoooom.com/http://www.dishoooom.com/http://manthanaward.org/index.asp#

nisg (National Institute of SmartGovernance)

KPMG NASSCOM Foundation

Milagrowdishoooom.com

iCONGOCMAI (Communications & Manufacturing

Association of India)

KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS

http://dqindia.ciol.com/DATAQUEST

TRADE MEDIA PARTNERS

http://www.itvidya.com/http://www.indianngos.com/

ITVidya.comIndian NGOs

ONLINE MEDIA PARTNER

http://www.igovernment.in/http://www.civilsocietyonline.com/

iGovernmentCivil Society

MEDIA PARTNER

http://www.inomy.com/Inomy Media

TECHNOLOGY PARTNER

http://www.barefootcollege.org/http://www.tftpeople.org/home.htmhttp://www.industreecrafts.org/index.htmhttp://www.sewa.org/

http://www.social-impact.org/

http://www.readglobal.org/http://www.readglobal.org/

Barefoot College TFTP (Technology For The People)

industreeSEWA (Self Employed Women's

Association) social-impact

READ (Read Education AndDevelopment) India

READ (Read Education AndDevelopment) Global

GRASSROOTS PARTNER

http://www.mdwit.org/http://www.bytesforall.org/http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/en/

MDWiTBytes for All

Solutions Exchange

OUTREACH PARTNERS

http://www.idfresearch.org/IDF (India Development Foundation)

ACADEMIC PARTNERS

http://www.mait.com/MAIT (Manufacturing Association ofInformation Technology)

INDUSTRY PARTNER

http://www.incap.co.in/INCAP (Infrastructure Corporation ofAndhra Pradesh)

INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNER

http://www.sristi.org/cms

http://www.sristi.org/cms/en/our_net-workhttp://www.thinkquest.org/en/http://www.desicrew.in/http://www.medialabasia.in/http://www.smsone.in/

SRISTI (Society for Research andInitiatives for Sustainable Technologies

and Institutions) HONEYBEE

Oracle ThinkQuest Desicrew

Media Lab Asia SMSOne

MANTHAN AWARDEE PARTNER

http://www.webdunia.com/http://www.ngpay.comhttp://www.hmri.in/

http://www.aarogyasri.org/http://www.iiitmk.ac.in/home.jsp /http://in.youtube.com/kissankerala

http://dteap.ac.in/

http://www.toxicslink.org/http://iasri.res.in/

http://www.highwaysbeyondcancer.org/http://giveindia.org/http://www.akhiltv.com/http://main.edc.org/http://www.kharia.org/http://ropeindia.comhttp://www.ncert.nic.in/index.htmhttp://www.viitindia.org/

http://cg.nic.in/khadya/khadyaen.html

WebduniangPay

ICON CommunicationsHMRI (Health Management & Research

Institute)Aarogyasri Health Care Trust

Indian Institute of InformationTechnology and Management - Kerala

(IITTM-K) Department of Technical Education

Andhra Pradesh (DTEAP)Toxic Links

Indian Agricultural Statistics ResearchInstitute

High>>>Ways Beyond CancerGive India

AKHILTVEducationl Development Centre

Pyara Kerketta Foundation ROPE India, Chennai

NCERTVIIT (Vidya Pratisthan Institute of

Information Technology) Department of Food, Civil Supplies and

Consumer Protection

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

I 40 I THE MANTHAN AWARD SOUTH ASIA 2008 I INVITATION 2009 I

The Manthan Award South Asia 2008 winners will be showcasednationally and internationally through special events through2008-09. Each of the national and international will be organisedin close cooperation and on the invitation of local organisers andpartners. The events would demonstarte best of South Asian andinternational e-Content practices and create awareness about theimportance of content among various initiatives.

The Manthan Award 2009 contests for e-Content in developmentwill be launched in the next year and will be open to all produc-ers and companies, institutions and organisations, agencies andprofessional bodies, without discrimination in terms of language,technological platform of the submitters

The eminent experts chosen from various states and union terri-tories in India and South Asia would organise pre-selections intheir regions. The partners would guarantee the fairness andindependence of the evaluation process and follow the criteria ofthe Manthan Award parameters. The Manthan Award Grand Jurywith the selection of nominees and winners would take place bymid next year.

The winers would be announces in the Manthan Award Gala inNew Delhi, in quarter four of 2009.

MANTHAN AWARD 2009INVITATION