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This article has pointed out about the importance of ICT and its role in rural development. ICT has emerged as lifeline of India’s development. There are several ICT based interventions currently running in rural area. The article has sited some of the successful recent ICT based interventions in Bihar.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is rapidly achieving the heart for future world economic growth and development. Strategic reforms in telecommunications sector since 1990’s has facilitated strong ICT infrastructure in India. The number of telephone subscribers in India has increased from 1,192.04 million at the end of October 2018 to 1,193.72 million at the end of November 2018, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.14 per cent (TRAI, 2018). The urban subscription has reached up to 664.54 million at the end of Nov-18, however the rural subscription increased from 524.91 million to 529.18 million during the same period. The overall Tele-density in India has increased from 91.17 at the end of October 2018 to 91.21 at the end of November 2018 (TRAI, 2018). Total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & LTE) increased from 1,170.02 million at the end of October 2018 to 1,171.76 million at the end of November 2018, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.15%. The Wireless Tele-density in India increased from 89.48 to 89.54 during the same period of time (www.trai.gov.in). The data indicates that India is witnessing a boom in ICT with the help of mobile penetration and low cost 4G data packs. This ICT can help in several ways for agriculture and rural development. There are several examples of ICT based interventions in India, which have enhanced the knowledge dissemination to farmers in very quick manner.

India is in transition of shifting from print to digital media; it is now connecting more with all facets of society via internet. ICT can be termed as lifeline of the world. Literally, it is an umbrella term refers with three words i.e. information, communication and technology.

 

Information- Information refers to the knowledge that we obtained from reading, investigation, study or research. Information is knowledge and in turn helps us to fulfil our daily tasks and to predict the future. For example, forecasting the stock exchange market.

Communication- Communication is the process by which two or more people exchange ideas, facts, feelings or impressions in ways that each gains a common understanding of the meaning, intent and use of messages.

Technology-Technologies identify as the elements of ICT-

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·         Broadcast/Audio Visual Technology: e.g. Radio, Television, Projector etc.

·         Computer Technology/Telecommunication: e.g. Computers, Telephone, Kiosk, Satellite etc.

·         Print Technology: e.g. Research bulletins, Newsletters, Journals, Leaflets etc.

ICT includes computer hardware and software; digital broadcast and telecommunications technologies as well as electronic information repositories such as the World Wide Web or those found on CD-ROMs.  It mainly consist of evolving range of elements that further includes television (TV), radio, mobile phones, and the policies and laws that govern these media and devices. ICTs are often used in plural sense (ICTs) to mean a range of technologies instead of a single technology. Access to ICT (internet) is now considered as one of the important determining factors for the development status of a country. ICT has potential to change the economy of agriculture and allied sector  thus, contribute towards the improvement of rural livelihood. It is the prime basis for future economic development. It helps in speedy dissemination of information and minimizes time and distance barriers.

 

New and Old ICTs Tools-

The old ICT tools it consist of radio, television, video, films, slides, pictures, print media, telephone etc., are being used to disseminate the information to the end users.

The new ICT tools, includes digital devices such as computers, e-mail, internet, multimedia, video-conference, mobile phone etc, which have the potential of providing vast amount of relevant information ,timely  comprehensively and cost effective manner to rural population.

 

For more details please download the full article PDF

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ICT based Interventions for Rural Development.pdf