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ICTs and Development in India India and Asia in the Global Economy Anthem’s India and Asia in the Global Economy series invites scholars and researchers to undertake bold projects exploring the internal and external dimensions of a ‘new’ India, and its economic and political interactions with contemporary global systems. Titles in this series examine India’s economic development and social change in global and Asian contexts, and topics include the politics of globalization, Indian middle class revolution, the politics of caste, India-US relations, India in Asia, emigrants and diaspora, economic policy and poverty, and changing gender relations. Series Editor Anthony P. D’Costa, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark Editorial Board Govindan Parayil, United Nations University, Japan E. Sridharan, UPIASI, India Kunal Sen, Manchester University, UK Aseema Sinha, University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA ICTs and Development in India Perspectives on the Rural Network Society T. T. Sreekumar Anthem Press An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company www.anthempress.com This edition fi rst published in UK and USA 2011 by ANTHEM PRESS 75-76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK and 244 Madison Ave. #116, New York, NY 10016, USA Copyright © T. T. Sreekumar 2011 The author asserts the moral right to be identifi ed as the author of this work. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sreekumar, T. T. ICTs and development in India : perspectives on the rural network society / T.T. Sreekumar. p. cm. – (India and Asia in the global economy) Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “ICTs and development in India is a unique attempt to study the nature and consequences of the growing presence of information technology in development projects in India, focusing particularly on e-governance and information & communication technologies (ICT) development programs initiated by civil society organizations (CSOs). Sreekumar persuasively argues that there is in fact a wide chasm between the expectations and the actual benefi ts of CSO initiatives in rural India, and that recognising this crucial fact yields important lessons in conceptualizing development and social action in rural areas.”—Publisher’s description. ISBN 978-1-84331-843-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Information technology–India. 2. Communication in rural development–India. 3. Rural development projects–India. I. Title. II. Series: India and Asia in the global economy. HC440.I55S74 2011 303.48’330954–dc22 2011012835 ISBN-13: 978 1 84331 843 9 (Hbk) ISBN-10: 1 84331 843 1 (Hbk) This title is also available as an eBook. CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables vii Preface ix 1. Introduction: Exploring the Rural Network Society 1 Two Rural Vignettes and the Beginning of a Story 1 ICTs, ICT4D and the Neo-Liberal Discourse 6 ICTs and the Civil Society Argument 13 Research Questions, Contexts and Conceptual Framework 19 Analytical Issues for Discussion 24 Methodology and Sources of Information 27 Organization and Focus 30 2. Civil Society and Cyber–Libertarian Developmentalism 33 The Cyber–Libertarian Turn 33 ICTs and Neo-Liberal Developmentalism: The Rise of the Social Enterprise Model 35 Information Village Research Project (IVRP) 40 TARAkendras 45 Expectations and Outcomes 48 State–CSO Relations: Emerging Contradictions 56 Narratives of Success and the Sustainability Puzzle 58 Lessons and Non-Lessons 63 3. Decrypting E-Governance 67 Technology and Governance 67 The Beginnings of E-Governance in India 68 Gyandoot: Organization and Technology 72 E-Governance and the Kiosks: The Social Dynamics 74 E-Governance and the Network Society: Deciphering the Narratives of Success 82 QUANGOs, Civil Society and the Private Sector 91 Beyond Technocratic Defi nitions 93 vi ICTS AND DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA 4. Cyber-Kiosks and Dilemmas of Social Inclusion 97 ICTs and Social Change 97 Gender and Information Technology 98 Women and ICTs: Rhetoric and Reality of Participation 101 Gyandoot: Tribal Women at Large 103 TARAkendras: Accepting Gender Divisions 106 Knowledge Centres and Women’s Participation 109 Social Enterprises as Social Movements 112 Participation in Net-Based Social Action 116 ICTs and Limits of Developmental CSOs 122 5. Innovating for the Rural Network Society 125 The Appropriate Technology for the Masses 125 Innovation and CSOs in Rural ICT Interventions 128 CSOs and the Triple Helix Model 130 The Simputer: ‘Gandhi’s Invention, Steve Jobs’ Ad Campaign’ 134 The Case of CorDECT WLL: ‘The MIDAS Touch’ 144 ICT Innovations, CSO and the State 149 6. ICT and Development: Critical Issues 151 Civil Society, Community and ICTs 151 Structure and Agency 155 Technology and Sustainability 161 Rural Network Society: The Politics of Transformation 168 Notes 175 Bibliography 187 Index 207 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figures Figure 1.1 Researcher with some youngsters in Veraampattinam fi shing village. Pondicherry 22 Figure 2.1 Protected by the caste Hindu Pantheon – The Embalam kiosk 42 Figure 2.2 The Thirukanchi kiosk notice board displaying local news and names of sponsoring agencies 57 Figure 2.3 Sivanandapuram village veterinary hospital (It is located only 3–4 kilometres from Kizhoor). 60 Figure 3.1 Gyandoot’s promotional material showing how kiosks provide matrimonial assistance 76 Figure 3.2 Gyandoot’s promotional material on how kiosks solve rural credit problems 84 Figure 4.1 Gyandoot’s promotional material offering small monetary rewards for reporting illegal activities in the village to the kiosk 103 Figure 4.2 IVRP’s offl ine newspaper Namma ooru Seythi (Our Local News) 114 Figure 4.3 The ‘two doors’ and the Embalam kiosk 116 Figure 5.1 The hype cycle of innovations 143 Tables Table 2.1 Management of MSSRF kiosks 43 Table 2.2 Unevenness in basic infrastructure facilities in selected IVRP centres 49 viii ICTS AND DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA Table 2.3 Projections for TARAkendras 2002–2006 53 Table 2.4 Sustainability matrix of rural Internet kiosks 62 Table 3.1 Sector-wise installation of computers in India 1965–1980 69 Table 3.2 Infrastructure, ownership, earnings and expenses: A comparative picture of selected Gyandoot centres 79 Table 3.3 Narratives in contexts: Understanding the tales from Gyandoot villages 86 Table 4.1 Users of Gyandoot by gender and age during 2000–2002 105 Table 4.2 Categories of users of knowledge centres in Pondicherry 111 Table 4.3 Users by gender at the Veerampatinam kiosk in March 1999 112 Table 4.4 Users by gender and age at the Veerampatinam kiosk in June 2002 112 Table 4.5 Telecentres and their activities 113 Table 4.6 Ideological milieu of civil society-based ICT initiatives 120 Table 5.1 ICT requirements of early CSO interventions 126 Table 5.2 Amida Simputers: Comparison of the marketed models 136 Table 5.3 Comparison of DECT, PHS and CDMA 145 PREFACE When I began this study on the state, civil society and information communication technologies (ICTs) nearly a decade ago, the area now identifi ed as ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development) or ICTD (Information and Communication Technologies and Development) had not evolved into a full-fl edged discipline. Nevertheless, the last two decades of the twentieth century had seen the emergence of perceptive studies on the social and economic impacts of ICTs and it was only a matter of time that the fi eld acquired a name of its own. ICT4D, or ICTD, is now an advanced fi eld of research and teaching in Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS). My study, keeping a critical distance from the mainstream concerns and methods of research in ICT4D or ICTD, draws on multiple theoretical, ideological and political perspectives that attempt to examine ICT–society interfaces in diverse social and economic landscapes. Nevertheless, I share the idea that there are understated distinctions between ICT4D and ICTD, and that they cannot be used interchangeably. The difference, as far as I understand, is not just one of semantics, and it goes beyond a mere objection to the assertiveness of the implied linearity represented by the numeral 4 in the former acronym and preference for the ambivalence brought in by removing the numeral in the latter. Epistemologically speaking, in its methods and convictions, ICTD should be representative of studies that look at ICT deployment in developing countries from the multiple perspectives of North–South relations, social and class divisions that mediate technology adoption in rural settings, and subaltern approaches that carefully understand the micropolitics of power relations in postcolonial societies. I have set out my research in terms of the paradigms and methods that challenge the fallacy of unmediated computer literacy and ICT deployment leading to ‘e-topian’ futures of social and economic development. Moreover, such a position refuses to problematize the notions of both ‘technology’ and ‘development’. Another signifi cant issue in the contemporary history of ICT diffusion is the central role played by civil society organizations (CSOs) in carrying forward the message and mission of the e-topia that characterizes most of the ICT-based developmental initiatives. Traditional players in fostering innovations