Cool Bihari: E-Governance Initiative in Bihar

A new e-governance initiative by Drishtee- a network orchestrator delivering fee-based services to the rural population through ICT kiosks for e-governance will surely give a big boost to the development initiatives in the state.The E-governance project is estimated to be $3,000.

Drishtee will set up kiosk cooperatives in villages to help villagers communicate with respective health centers. The centers will be equipped with mobile phones and computers that will be connected to hospital computers via internet. Doctors will send reports via the internet and will prescribe medicines accordingly. These kiosks will also place orders for medicines as per the prescriptions. The centers will also store reports of blood pressure, ECG and pulse rates or regular patients.

The company has tied up with Bangalore-based Nerosynaptics and local NGO, Janani, for the project. The former will provide systems at the kiosk centers. Drishtee has also tied up with a pharma company, but refused more comment saying that an official announcement would follow at a later date.

Currently, its initiatives include e-governance, computer education, health, photo studio, insurance, communication and local services, village to business e-com, BPO for villagers, agriculture, rural finance, retailing for FMCG and consumer goods.

Its network covers over 1020 kiosks and Vistaar dealers for sales and services in 46 districts in nine states. "In March 2006, we commenced a Tele-Sales Centre (TSC), which enabled the entrepreneurs in villages to use GPRS enabled mobile phone, (using proprietary software developed by the organisation) to enquire and order products and services. We are now planning to use technology for WAP services, agri-queries and an education package for the kiosks," said Satyan Mishra, MD, Drishtee.

The organization had initially introduced a rural e-commerce, Drishtee Haat, to provide a marketing platform for rural artisans. Drishtee has been selected as a visionary firm among 47 firms worldwide by the World Economic Forum as Technology Pioneers 2007 for its life-changing innovations.