[Telecentres] MSSRF, Chennai

[Subbiah Arunachalam]

Friends:

I am Arun [Full name: Subbiah ARUNACHALAM] and I am a volunteer for the past
more than eight years with the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai.
Our work in the villages of Pondicherry, 160 km south of Madras (now
rechristened Chennai) is well known. The Information Village Research
Project, largely supported by IDRC (and CIDA), operates in 12 villages and
it is a holistic project, not mere telecentres. Each village has a knowledge
centre and these are connected through a variety of technologies. Local
people - mostly women - run these centres and provide all kinds of
information to trhe local communities. They have formed self-help groups and
members run microenterprises. They are supported by microfinancing. We have
recently formed a National Alliance so as to create similar centres in
everyone of the more than 625,000 villages of India within the next three
years. 

Apart from ICT-enabled development, I also promote open access to scientific
and scholarly literature.

Arun
[Subbiah Arunachalam]
Distinguished Fellow
MSSRF
Chennai 600 113, India
Tel: +91 44 5528 4776,  2254 2791
Fax: +91 44 2254 1319


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