Dear GKD Colleagues, One of the most interesting applications of ICT is taking place in Kerala, India. Kerala -- during the past couple of years, also fondly called "God's own country" due to its serene & long ivory coasts off the Arabian sea, it's back-waters and lush tropical greenery -- happens to be one of the last few remaining communist strongholds in India. Few regions in India have been as richly endowed by the mother nature as Kerala; yet the state faces an unusual challenge: acute unemployment of a highly literate population, and destitution of an entirely different type from the rest of India. The state is 100% literate and a large percentage of this literate workforce works in foreign countries, mostly in the Gulf & Middle East. Sadly, due to leftist influence and poor industrial relations record of past several decades, negligible fresh investments have been forthcoming in the state. Moreover, a large number of existing units have either closed down or migrated to the neighboring states because the labor in those states is not as militant as in Kerala, and the labor costs are far cheaper than those in Kerala. Further compounding this crisis is the State Government's acute fiscal deficit, which has led the state into a very serious developmental crisis. The Government has not taken a clear position on the direction of industrial development in the state. While this, to some extent, reflects the meager resources available for investments in the industrial sector, it also reflects the helplessness of the government to spread over such meager resources over the multiple commitments it has inherited from its posture as a "welfare" state. In fact, the industrialization initiatives of the state have become subservient to those of providing welfare. There are over 3.5 million registered unemployed people in Kerala, and these figures do not cover the marginal and seasonal unemployed as well as "unemployed dependents," who have not bothered to get themselves registered in the employment exchanges and yet have nothing to do for a living. Fortunately, the extended, feminist family system provides much-needed security for a large number of unemployed and protects them from hunger and deprivation; yet the signs of increasing unemployment has started creating tensions as well as crime in an area which has traditionally very peaceful. The rich cash crops of the state such as spices, cashew, rubber, and coconut no longer yield worthwhile returns on cultivation nor any profits to speak of. The remittances from the Gulf & Middle East have also slowed down dramatically during past few years, as Keralites working in these countries have been asked to return back to their homes, now that those countries have access to other sources of labor -- both cheaper labor from other countries, and their own labor, now educated and able to take the jobs that were held by Keralites, and at comparable costs. Against this backdrop, several entrepreneurs have taken the lead, especially in the rural areas of the state -- catering to a burgeoning market keen to learn computer skills as well as to access the Internet. Web point is a good example -- a small Internet & multi-purpose kiosk approx. 30 kms. from Kerala's capital city Thiruvananthapuram. Web point (contact information below) is located in a predominantly Muslim rural area. Its owner, A.M. Riza, is one of the "Gulf-returned" who had an increasingly frustrating experience working & living in the Middle East. He decided to come back home where he set up Web point with the help of his mentor Mr. Nahas, founder of C-IT.org -- passionately committed to rural computerization (www.c-it.org) with a small capital outlay. Riza never for a moment doubted the sustainability of his fledgling enterprise purely based on the Internet; consequently, he chose to maintain a very diversified portfolio of services. He has been offering consultancy services as well as application software development services to the local businesses in his area; in addition, his firm provides computer education to mostly young Muslim girls. Riza also offers computers and peripheral repair services to his clients, many of whom own PCs in their homes. He gets, on average, 3-4 students every month to learn computer skills as well as to practice on simple automation softwares. However, his own revenue from "net-surfing" as well as email usage has increased drastically as people from neighboring villages started seeing the merit in using emails as well as "chatting" with their near and dear living in the Gulf & Middle East. It has been difficult for Riza to deal with a large Muslim clientele and their value system. Orthodox social practices such as "purdah" practice do not permit a Muslim girl to move around freely in alien surroundings. Yet with most young & able men gone from the region, he has had to fall back upon these women for his livelihood. Despite all these obstacles, the business for Riza has been attractive and he has been able to expand the business as well as generate tremendous interest in computers and the Internet among the rural population of the area. He has been able to accomplish this achievement in less than two years time. He says "Internet kiosks such as Web point have started mush-rooming across Kerala and are creating much deserved employment opportunities for hundreds and thousands of people." Best regards, Chetan Sharma & Dinesh Nambiar Datamation 361 Patparganj Industrial Areas, New Delhi-110 092 (India) Ph#91-11-2167230/2168017/2169162/2167973 www.datamationindia.com Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web point can be reached at : A.M. Riza Web point M.C. Road, Venjaramoodu P.O. Thiruvananthapuram Dist. 695 607 Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : www.Venjaramoodu.com PTh# 0471-873336/873404 C-IT can be reached at : M. Nahas-Chairman C-IT, Thiruvananthapuram Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : www.c-it.org ------------ ***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.globalknowledge.org>
