Against the backdrop of a troubled global digital environment, the past few years have been difficult and challenging for the whole world in general and the developing countries in particular. This is because the divide is more prominent in the developing countries. This apprehension warrants a special effort to bridge the digital divide.

The heartening thing is that the world has taken cognizance of this fact. A small bridging effort has been initiated worldwide and India is certainly playing an active part in this small scale revolution.

Technologically speaking, the global Information Society knows no boundaries and senses no limits (Kennedy G.2004). Its inhibition of reach is very much a human creation. Man is responsible for establishing unnatural geo-political and social boundaries, unfriendly regulatory climates, and given the severe lack of physical access by those on the other side of the digital divide, man can certainly slow the pace of progress. This needs to be checked immediately. Information and communication technologies (ICT) could provide the access infrastructure, the technical ability to participate, to grow socially and economically, and to improve the quality of life, health and education.

This is where the role of organizations like TARAhaat (and many other like minded ones) comes into play. TARAhaat is India’s premiere social enterprise dedicated to bridging the digital divide that exists between rural communities and the mainstream economy. Its purpose is to provide villagers, particularly the youth and women, with access to information and livelihood opportunities comparable in quality to those available in urban areas.

TARAhaat’s initial focus has been on vocational training, community development, information and e-governance through a host of unique programmes. To meet what is probably the most important and widespread need in rural India, the next generation of services focuses on the promotion of micro and small enterprises through a unique, comprehensive Enterprise Development Programme. This programme supports an entrepreneur through the business life cycle and includes initial identification of business opportunities, technical training, financial and market linkages. Creation of these local mini industries will not only create employment opportunities on a large scale but also generate production capacity for the goods and services required in rural areas and the purchasing power needed by local people to buy the same.

Gerry Kennedy, Principal Vice President, Bechtel recommends that Global Information Society must be physically accessible to the masses, must be local in content and pure in its recognition of social diversity. At the same time, it must be affordable by the masses and not just the classes. These things have been emphasized time and again at many worldwide forums as well. TARAhaat’s vision encompasses all of these. The USP of TARAhaat’s services is that it is always offered in the local language. People’s paying capacity is the major determinant of the differential pricing of the services.

In developed countries, the convergence of telecoms, multi-media and data is driving the migration to the Information Society at a tremendous pace. The demand for basic communications services in less developed countries is having a similar effect. Successful development of a Global Information Society in response to such a demand will yield improvement in education, health care, economic growth, and the quality of life. Failure to do so will cause increased social division, poor health care, and greater global poverty. TARAhaat, in order to turn the tide towards a more sustainable development acts as a powerful communication channel between the rural populace and the outside world. Through it, for example, farmers can get market information of importance to them and also find buyers for their produce. They also get the Internet connectivity, which enables them to perform many of those functions, which they could only think of earlier.

The old debate in the 1990s over choosing between ICTs and other development imperatives, like shelter and food, especially in poor countries, has now shifted from one of trade-offs to that of complementing (Kirui, S.2003). There is a growing acceptance that ICTs can play an important role in international development efforts by providing new and more efficient methods of production, bringing previously unattainable markets within the reach of local producers, improving the delivery of government services, and increasing the access to basic social goods and services. Making use of the cutting edge Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as conventional methods, TARAhaat serves as a platform for sustainable development action. The TARAhaat network is a powerful channel to link businesses, civil society organizations and the Government to rural communities in a cost effective manner not possible before.

These new technologies, it is now clear, are not an end in themselves. Nor will a one-size-fits-all approach prove effective. The challenges faced by developing countries vary greatly by geography, culture, and the level of economic achievement. Evidence is growing that ICT is a powerful tool when used in the right way as part of an overall development strategy. Therefore, TARAhaat takes a holistic view of the problem and presents an integrated solution. In its pursuit to bridge the digital divide in totality, TARAhaat tries to integrate the contribution of ICT through three different channels: