Techno Social Innovation makes its way in rural India

By Mr. G M Sastry

When I visited Katuru (very near to my native place Vuyyuru) on 4th Nov 2012 for the water quality testing project, I could notice two totally contrast and  opposite things- exactly situated opposite to each other. One is old and ancient abandoned and dilapidated house.

Just opposite to the above building, a modern technological phenomenon aiding the welfare schemes of the government aimed at senior citizens and other welfare beneficiaries was happening every month. It took me literally by surprise when I saw what was happening.

Opposite to the old abandoned house is the Grampanchayt office/Secretariat of Katuru. On that day (4 Nov), the Gramsevika entered the premises of GP secretariat and several senior citizens, widows,  were waiting along with some specially abled/challenged. From her handbag, she took out a small machine and placed it on the old table in the GP office. On the side of the machine, she placed her mobile.

                                                                

One by one the senior citizens started showing their id cards. She fed the id no into the mobile and immediately the senior citizen’s details are retrieved by the mobile including his/her photo and other details. She pushed some other buttons on the mobile for further verification. Then she asked the beneficiary to put his/her fingers on the small machine for scanning. It took less than a minute to scan the fingerprint and then match with bio-metric database. Once it was approved by the system, the small machine printed out the receipt in duplicate. One copy was handed over to the person along with Rs 200 from the handbag of the Gramsevika.

All this happened in less than may be 4 to 5 minutes. There was a good crowd before the gramsevika. Normally it happens in the frist week of a month for about 4 days. For those persons, who are identified for the pension scheme and cannot come to the GP secretariat/common place, the Gramsevika goes to their house, completes the formalities and distributes the cash!

Modern technology aiding the welfare schemes aimed at old/senior people!

I am not opening up a debate whether welfare pension is good or not or the amount of Rs 200 is sufficient or not. Simply amazed by the usage of the technology. Of course the next step would be cash transfers to the pensioner’s bank accounts if the proposed financial inclusion in rural areas is not a mirage!

Technology can be effectively used by harnessing its true potential and thus to reduce the side effects of able workers’ migration to urban areas on their dependant senior family members, who are not productive by modern understanding!

May be this is called social innovation!

As Shared by Mr. G M Sastry , http://in.linkedin.com/in/gmsastry

Email:  gmsastryhyd@gmail.com

 

 

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

India Inc to pamper Senior Citizens:Celebrating Age –8 city Retirement EXPO 2012

Corporate are increasingly looking at senior citizens as their target market to take advantage of the enormous investment opportunity presented by this section of the market. Major insurances , Banks and Corporate including MetLife India Insurance Company Limited, Associate Sponsor: State Bank Of India (Reverse Mortgage), supported by Bank of India, Max Life Insurance Company Limited, LIC of India all cities,Central Bank of India, Soham-Umang, Saket Engineers(PRANAAM), Concept Homes India Private Limited (Nandanvanam), Glow Herbal Shantiniketan,Jain Farms, National Institute Of Naturopathy, Sri Ramanamahrshi Sevashram, GoldAGE Hospital Pvt. Ltd., TheGoldenEstate.com/UCC Care Pvt.Ltd, Silver Inning Foundation - Mumbai,ING Vysya Life Insurance Co. Ltd ,Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd, Harmony Realtors(Madras) Pvt., Ltd, and many other reputed organization planning to tap senior citizens as their target market at 'celebrating age'- 8 City expo on active retirement from 1^st September – 21^st October in India .

'Celebrating Age', an active ageing retirement expo series is being held in all the major cities of India starting from 1^st September- 21^st October 2012 and is being organised by Vision India in association with the International Longevity Centre India Chapter and supported by the International Federation on Ageing (IFA), the Silver Inning Foundation and the Association of Senior Living India (ASLI). Social Media Partner is Silver Innings , pioneer in Elder Social media in India and Asia.

The first of the expo series is in Bangalore on September 1 and 2 followed by one at Pune on September 8 and 9 and later on at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai on September 15 and 16. The same expo continues at Ahmedabad on September 22 and 23 and in Goa on September 29 and 30. Chennai follows with the expo to be held on October 6 and 7, at Hyderabad on October 13 and 14 and the last one in Delhi on October 20 and 21.

Check the details here:  http://silverinnings.blogspot.in/2012/08/india-inc-to-pamper-senior.html

Satyameva Jayate: A Truly Cathartic Experience by Shubha Tiwari

Like the whole of India, I was also waiting for Mr. Perfectionist’s date with destiny. It really turned out to be a date with destiny. The show was very touching and very moving. I freely wept. But it would be apt to go about looking at the show analytically. 

 

The basic thesis of the show is simple. We are responsible for our condition. Pointing fingers won’t do. The show is clinically non-partisan and that’s the best thing about it. Taking political sides erodes credibility. Everyone’s clever these days. People immediately know ‘whose channel it is’ or ‘whose show it is’. So, the best part was the apolitical flavor of the show. It was ‘we, the people’ thinking and talking about ‘we, the people’. 

There’s no denying the fact that perils of India root out of the people of India. People get what they deserve. We get the kind of governance, the kind of civic amenities that we deserve. No system works if the quality of people is poor. Any effort at improving things has to begin at improving the people, enlightening and educating the people. This is what the show is all about. 

The past, the beginning of female feticide in India, the victims, the cruelty involved, the role of doctors, the whistle blowers and their plight, the social scenario resulting from female feticide, the solution to the problem, the exemplary work in Navashahar, and finally a touching, melodious song - wow! The show was perfect.  The research involved, the meticulous planning, the hard work and the commitment – it was all showing. There were no hidden identities. The victims came out in the open. The journalists, the doctors, the lawyers - all came out in the open. Even the cute girls who survived all attempts to be butchered came and sat. Human life is precious; it is to be treated with dignity - that was the message.  

One lady had all her face animally eaten up by her husband because she failed to produce sons for him. Another lady had six horrible experiences of forced and deceitful abortions in as many years. One lady doctor narrated her experience where the caring cot of the baby girl was pushed down stairs by the mother-in-law in order to get rid of the girl. Horror tales in educated, high-class India! Then came the poor journalists who had first exposed female feticide in media. Eight years down the line- they are knotted in legal battle across the state of Rajasthan. Not a single doctor has been punished so far. To torture the whistle blowers, the cases have been shifted to different parts of the state. They keep going from place to place, risking their safety. Even arrest warrants are issued for those who exposed the evil practice. But the doctors who were involved in the crime are still practicing and flourishing.  

Things do not end here. It could not have become more ironical for India’s religiosity when we were told that doctors use code words ‘Jai Mata di’ for female fetus and ‘Krishan Kanhaiya’ for male ones. We are killing our girls unabated. The myth that uneducated people kill their daughters was broken as it is more of an urban-educated class phenomenon.  

The show went on to show the army of unmarried men in a village; there are no girls left to marry them. The girls have been killed in the womb. The long term impact of this heinous practice, furtherance of exploitation of women through this practice, sale and purchase of women for procreation purposes etc were brought to light. 

The best part of the show was its positive attitude. The good work of district administration and the people of Navashahar, Haryana was hailed. Bharati, a young and poor mother gave the message simply, ‘We love our daughter. Next time, whatever, God will give, we’ll be happy to receive.’   

The concept of ‘Satyameva Jayate’ is very original and effective. The concept has found a perfect executioner in Aamir Khan. As a teacher, I’m tempted to suggest that a word could have been dropped about the deep psychological, mythological and patriarchal knots that compel the collective consciousness of India to be so heavily tilted towards the son. It’s a legitimate question – why do people want a son so desperately that they behave like hardened criminals?  What are the factors which propel this behavioral pattern? Patriarchy, the family name, the concept of honor being inseparably associated with the female body, discrimination in institutions and work place, dowry, dangers and insecurity are reasons that tame the Indian psyche.  

Overall, it was a thought-provoking show. All the injustices of the years gone by, the pain of mothers, grand-mothers, aunts and neighbors came and choked the throat. The episode evoked that kind of a response. Hats off to the master craftsman and the sensitive soul that Aamir is! It was a well-researched and well written research paper.  
  
by Prof. Shubha Tiwari
 
7th May 2012


 
Source:
Satyameva Jayate: A Truly Cathartic Experience by Shubha Tiwari


Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

INDIA: Young Aging Expert Is Editor of Seniors World Chronicle

Mumbai-based Ravi Chawla, Founder Editor and Owner of Seniors World Chronicle, announced today that he is handing over complete charge and ownership of the Internet daily digest of international news and reports on Aging, to Sailesh Mishra of Silver Innings.  

Seniors World Chronicle.com was launched in 2005 by Ravi Chawla, who has worked all his life as reporter, editor and publisher of specialist journals. This journal has already published nearly 12,000 reports from 250 countries and attracted an estimated 500,000 visitors up to end March 2012.

Chawla is completing 75 years of age in a few weeks and has opted out in favour of the dynamic young Sailesh Mishra to continue operations of Seniors World Chronicle. 

Mishra has 15 years of hard core marketing experience and since the year 2006, has dedicated himself to work with Senior Citizens. 

Says Mishra: "I am Social Gerontologist by Experience and Founder President of Silver Inning Foundation, Not for Profit and 'Silver Innings,' a Social Enterprise working with Senior Citizens."

For increasingly internet savvy senior citizens everywhere,Seniors World Chronicle serves as a single source of international coverage of all issues concerning older persons. Access is free to all internet users and no registration is required.

URL: http://www.seniorsworldchronicle.com

More information from:

Ravi Chawla 91-9322 633 718

Sailesh Mishra 91-9987 104 233

2nd May 2012

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

2011 Census Shows How 1.3 Billion People in India Live — Behind the Numbers

 An attention-getting headline in the major Indian daily newspaper, The Hindu recently observed: “Half of India’s homes have mobile phones, but not toilets.” Such contradictions portray a country with some of the trappings of modernity combined with living conditions in India’s 247 million households that look more medieval. The Registrar General of India has released statistics on the level of living in India from the 2011 Census and the results are quite revealing. Even more revealing are the changes since the 2001 Census.

Regarding the first two issues in the headline, the percentage of houses with an indoor toilet is still less than half but there was an improvement (see table below). But, if one sees the glass as half empty, should the percentage increase in toilets remain steady, the 2071 Census would be the first to show this figure to reach 100 percent! Conditions in rural areas are much worse than urban areas given that 7 out of 10 households must resort to open places like fields, bush, river, stream, railway tracks, and so forth.

And how about those mobile phones?  More than half of households do have at least one, nearly half in rural areas and 76 percent in urban areas. Many households, of course, possess more than one mobile. Perhaps that is not so surprising since a very basic mobile phone costs as little as US$40 and can be relatively quickly purchased; not so for a sewer hookup.  That US$40 cost is, nonetheless, quite substantial for many households. Reports indicate that there are now over 700 million mobile phones in India.

 Read in Detail :
2011 Census Shows How 1.3 Billion People in India Live — Behind the Numbers: The PRB blog on population, health, and the environment


Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

ROARING OPPORTUNITY FOR RESOURCE MOBILISATION & DEVELOPMENT EVANGELISTS IN INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

A coveted Opportunity To Moonlight (work from home and from your computer) while continuing with your current job/ business as usual and earn handsome success fees. Inviting people working in NGOs, Corporate Foundations, Students, Homemakers, Retired folks and just about anyone and everyone who wants to contribute for a noble cause.

Important - this is not a full time/part time job/ consultancy and the select people who are chosen based on your intent & interest shall be remunerated based on their outcomes and results and also be given a certificate as our Evangelist on successful delivery. You shall also get an opportunity to attend our workshops & conferences as an esteemed team member.

iCODEVGURUKUL is the acronym for “iCONGO’s Development Gurukul” created in partnership with Skillshare International( India) Trust. Apropos the ancient wisdom, GURUKUL means that the GURU (Mentor) is always available and has close proximity to the SHISHYAS (mentees), where they work together as equals for fulfilling the greater purpose of life.

Skillshare ( www.skillshare.org ) works for poverty alleviation through sustainable development in partnership with the people and communities of nine African countries and India, and The International Confederation of NGOs- (www.icongo.in) passionately works with PEOPLE, for encouraging social justice through citizen action.

The Development sector will be coming together in June 2012 for the 2nd Annual Development and Sustainability Gurukul. to develop the Power to Lead in the art of Fundraising, beyond sustainable CSR, integrated marketing communications, cross value analysis integrating CRM, Social, Online Marketing, PR and Social Media, from real time practitioners whose understanding and skills of the Indian context have been time tested. The focus of the Gurukul is to fill the gap in the skill sets of the Development workers and equip them with the right skills to sustain their ventures.

The Gurukul aims to reach out to as many as possible. To do this, iCODEVGURUKUL seeks Evangelists to work in their own space and time, over internet, email and social networking sites like linked in, facebook, twitter etc. to mobilise participants.

SUCCESSFUL Evangelists shall be paid a success fee on the following basis and this may be a great opportunity to generate some additional income by simply networking in your circles from your armchair & computer as all you need to do is forward a mail and get people to sign up over the phone.

10% of the fees on up to 10 participants,

15% on 11 participants and above.

Fee per participant is Rs 10,000/-

iCODEVGURUKUL shall be imparting specialist mentoring in development and besides the Developent & Sustainability Gurukul, we shall also be organizing other workshops and events. Once we choose you as our evangelist, you shall have the opportunity to also work with us for promoting other programs/ campaigns (like Karmayuga) that we organize through the year. You could also help recruit good NGOs as members of the federation. More details about our various programs/ movements are on  www.icodevgurukul.com and www.icoxchange.com .

CHOSEN EVANGELISTS may also be involved as volunteers for the long term for our e-commerce portal and campaigns based on merit & performance.

How to Apply: To begin with send us a brief profile with a short covering note with your “statement of purpose” to meenu@icongo.in  or bosco@icongo.in  Please outline your ideas on how you shall add value to promote participation in our fundraising conference through your efforts & networking. We shall revert back to you based on your seriousness of intent that would reflect in your short covering note. Please note only shortlisted & potential evangelists shall be contacted.

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.